Spirit of Darkness
by iMelinda
Summary: Ronodin, the dark unicorn, was supposedly destroyed by the Fairy King thousands of years ago. No one knew that he clung to life by a thread, tethered to the world of the living only by his horns, a dark spirit looking for the right body to inhabit...
1. Birthday Surprises

**Chapter One**

_Two warriors faced each other on a battlefield. Only hours before a decisive battle of a great war had been fought here. Both bore the marks of the recent fight: dented armor; damaged weapons; and various cuts and scratches some bandaged with linen and other bleeding freely. While lesser men would have given up, the two faced one another, each silently daring the other to be the first to back down._

_ Creatures of light and darkness alike watched the two warily. No one knew how long the peace would last. At any moment, one of their leaders could lunge for the other, and the fighting would break out again._

_ A young boy eyed the two warriors with interest. To the astrid standing beside him, he remarked, "I'd wager Ronodin could give Father a decent fight." To him, the dark unicorn seemed to ooze power and confidence, from the cool glare he gave the Fairy King to his obvious disdain for the 'weaklings' around him. Ronodin held his corrupted third horn, a dark gray sword with a black hilt. Darkness dripped off of the blade in tendrils. His dark magic was only kept in check by the light radiating from the Fairy Queen. If they battled, the victor would be obvious, but it would still be fascinating to watch._

_ Gilgarol didn't even turn. "Hush," he ordered._

_ The boy wasn't deterred. "Did you notice how much they look alike?" he asked. "Same hair, same beard, only Father's is silver and Ronodin's is black. I never noticed before."_

_ "Hush, Bracken, or I will ensure that you will never again see a battle until you have earned your place on the battlefield." Gilgarol barely withheld a sigh. Yes, the prince was talented and willing to learn, but his eagerness sometimes grated on Gilgarol's nerves._

_ Bracken looked like he was about to protest, but the Fairy King suddenly spoke, his voice magically magnified so everyone could hear. "Your army is defeated. You have no hope of victory. Surrender, and I will be merciful."_

_ Ronodin laughed, a cold, hard chuckle. "I will never bow before you and beg for kindness. Better to fall in battle, fighting to my last breath."_

_ "So be it." For the tiniest second, Bracken thought he saw something like sadness in his father's eyes. Then it was gone, and the Fairy King swung his sword, aiming for Ronodin's throat. Ronodin met it with his own sword and a roar like thunder sounded across the battlefield as the two blades collided. Again and again they struck, neither gaining an advantage over their opponent._

_ Bracken watched in awe. He had never seen such remarkable swordsmanship. His father ducked and twisted, avoiding Ronodin's blows when he couldn't block them with his sword, attacking in the same heartbeat. Bracken waited eagerly for the move that his father always used to catch him off guard when they sparred._

_ Sure enough, the Fairy King feinted to the right and made a convincing show of it. It was a risky maneuver, because he held the position for so long, but Ronodin took the bait and shifted his position to protect his right side. At the last second, the Fairy King changed direction and opened a long gash in Ronodin's left leg. As the dark unicorn howled in agony – more than was warranted by the wound alone, for Ronodin's flesh couldn't stand the purity of the Fairy King's horn – the Fairy King brought his sword up to Ronodin's throat._

_ Just before the Fairy King made the fatal cut, Ronodin gasped hoarsely, "You think you have defeated me? Best think again! The Lord of Darkness shall live on."_

_ "Enough," the Fairy King commanded. "Begone." In one swift movement, he sliced through Ronodin's neck. The dark unicorn exploded into thousands of tiny black particles, which gradually dissolved in the sunshine._

_ Bracken trembled. He had the strangest feeling that Ronodin had looked directly at him as he uttered his last words._

_ He shook the feeling off and went to help his sister Virtue with the wounded. No matter what he had said, Ronodin was gone for good._

* * *

><p>"I think you're crazy," Kendra informed her brother.<p>

Seth ignored her. He pushed ahead through the thick foliage of the forest, shoving branches out of his way as he passed, muttering to himself, "It's gotta be around here somewhere…"

"We're pretty far out here," Kendra observed. They had been hiking along this overgrown trail for at least twenty minutes, after following one of the main paths for half an hour before that.

"Just a little bit farther," Seth promised.

"That's what you said ten minutes ago."

"Look, I know what I'm doing, okay?"

"This 'something awesome' had better be pretty cool," Kendra warned. "And not just your idea of cool. If you're taking me to see a giant slug or something, I'm turning around right here."

"Relax. This will be plenty cool," Seth promised.

"It's not stolen gold or anything like that, right?" Kendra confirmed. "I wasn't planning on getting eaten by a troll or anything for my birthday."

"It's perfectly legal. Now be quiet. I'm trying to concentrate." Seth glanced around the trees as if looking for a landmark.

"You're lost, aren't you," Kendra said. It wasn't a question, just a statement of fact.

"No, no, I recognize this tree," Seth said. He pointed to an oak that looked almost identical to the dozens of other trees around them.

"I don't see anything special about it," said Kendra.

"Look at the roots," Seth said excitedly. "No, not there, between the two big ones."

Kendra squinted at the tangle of roots mixed with undergrowth. "What are you – oh!" She could just barely make out the outline of a tiny wooden door. "That's pretty neat, but not the sort of thing I'd think _you_ would make a big deal out of."

"What does it remind you of, though?" Seth pressed eagerly.

"The brownie door!" Kendra realized. This door bore a striking resemblance to the secret entrance the brownies used to get into the house. Kendra and Seth had used it, too, when Vanessa had taken over and thrown their grandparents in the dungeon.

"There's a colony of brownies in the forest!" Seth exclaimed.

Kendra knelt to examine the door more closely. "Grandpa never mentioned brownies in the woods," she said.

"It must be an undiscovered colony," Seth guessed.

"Why didn't you go to Grandpa first?" Kendra asked.

Seth shrugged uncomfortably. "I just thought-"

"Besides," Kendra interrupted, "I don't think any brownies live here."

"Why do you say that?" asked Seth nervously.

"Because the door appears to have been painted on. Recently, in fact," Kendra said, running her finger around the outline of the door. When she drew it back, it was covered in paint.

"Rats," Seth muttered.

She wiped her hand on the grass and stood up, looking her brother straight in the eye. "You've been acting really weird today. First you barge into the attic announcing really loudly that you're going to go play football with the satyrs. Then you come back an hour later and insist that I come see something awesome in the forest, which is just a little doodle you painted on a tree. What are you up to?" she demanded.

Seth's shoulders slumped. "Never mind," he mumbled. "I guess if we leave now we'll make it back in time for your stupid birthday party."

"Dinner," Kendra corrected him.  
>"What?" he asked.<p>

"We're going out to-" Kendra paused, realizing something. "Seth! Did you lure me out of the house so they could se up a surprise party?"

"Oh, _shoot_," Seth groaned. "Just try to look surprised, okay?"

Kendra nodded. "Wait, I do have a question, though," she said.

"Go ahead," Seth grumbled. "There's nothing I haven't spoiled yet."

"If it took you an hour to get here and back the first time, why did it take us an hour to get here alone?" Kendra asked.

"I'd like to say I was just keeping you out of the house for longer, but I got lost," Seth admitted.

Kendra laughed. "Well, can you get us back to the house from here?"

"I… er… well… uh…. no," Seth sighed.

"That's okay," Kendra said. "I can." She walked along the path in the same direction they had been walking. Seth followed her, looking a little doubtful. But a few minutes later they emerged from the forest on the far side of the yard, a few hundred yards away from where they had started.

Seth rolled his eyes. "I can't believe it," he muttered. He stomped off back toward the house.

Kendra started after him, but stopped when she felt something brush against her ankles. Glancing down, she saw nothing, only a few blades of grass quivering in the breeze. She could almost trace the path of an air current zooming across the lawn, but she blinked and it was gone. She shook her head. Maybe she was imagining things.

Deciding to give Seth a head start, she ambled slowly toward the house and paused when she reached the back door, counting to ten before turning the knob and walking inside.

It was dim for a split second before someone flipped the light switch and everyone yelled, "Surprise!"

Thought it wasn't really a surprise, Kendra couldn't help grinning. And she had reason to – friends she hadn't seen in months, Warren and Vanessa and Elise and Trask and Mara and Tanu, all crowded the kitchen, along with all four of her grandparents, and, of course, her parents.

Her dad came up to her and hugged her. "Happy birthday, honey," he said.

"Thanks. This is awesome!" Kendra replied.

"I can't believe you didn't guess," Grandpa Sorenson chuckled. "Seth wasn't especially subtle about it."

"I was completely surprised," Kendra lied. She shot a glance at Seth. He returned it, looking grateful.

Grandma Sorenson produced containers of takeout from the Chinese restaurant they were going to eat at originally and set the table. Gradually, the group migrated to the dining room and settled down to eat.

Kendra found herself swept up by the conversation. The active Knights of the Dawn swapped stories of work in the field for the latest news about the various preserves around the globe. Warren held Seth's attention with a tale of how he had crept up to the nest of a roc to deliver medicine for its damaged wing. Grandma Larsen was telling Elise about a preserve in Mongolia that had taken in the last of the known wild jackalopes. Kendra realized that while everyone had gathered at the excuse of her birthday, this was more of a reunion for their friends and family.

She listened to a conversation Tanu and Grandpa Larsen were having about magical items. After finishing an argument about the usefulness of amulets to ward off the undead, Tanu dropped his voice to a whisper and confided, "There are rumors that the Memory Glass has resurface."

Grandpa Larsen's eyes widened. "I thought Agad destroyed it eons ago," he replied softly.

"That's what they say, but every hundred years or so some fool will insist that their heirloom mirror is really the Memory Glass or something like that," Tanu said. "Coulter was investigating one of the claims before he…" He trailed off. Coulter had died a few months ago when the demon Graulas overthrew the preserve.

"What's the story this time?" Grandpa Larsen prodded, changing the direction of the conversation.

"Nothing concrete yet, but years ago an old relics dealer spread the word that he had it, but when he died and the estate was divided up, no one found any trace of it. Then, a few weeks ago, someone ransacked the manor he lived in. Literally tore the place apart, I heard. Not much furniture left, but what was there was all in pieces. Some of the walls had holes in them, and most of the roof was gone. It was like a tornado had blown through, but the only noticeable damage was to that house."

"How did you find out about it?" asked Grandpa Larsen.

"I was bartering with an old friend for some potion ingredients," Tanu began. Kendra stopped listening, thinking about the Memory Glass. What was it? What did it do? Why was it so legendary?

She was about to interrupt Tanu and Grandpa Larsen and ask them about it when Grandma Sorenson tapped the side of her glass with her fork. Everyone grew quiet.

"I propose a toast to Kendra," Grandma said. "To sixteen to great years and hopefully many more." Kendra blushed and rolled her eyes as everyone raised their glasses.

After the toast, Mom and Grandma Larsen started clearing away the dishes. Kendra turned to talk to Tanu but discovered he had moved to the other end of the table to discuss something with Trask. Instead she struck up a conversation with her dad, who had been looking a little awkward throughout the meal. He wasn't an especially social person at the best of times, and being in a room where everyone was discussing magical creatures and the like couldn't have helped. He still wasn't totally acclimated to life and Fablehaven and commuted an hour every day to his job in the nearest town to "escape the insanity."

Their conversation ended when Mom brought out a huge cake – enough to feed the whole crowd – decorated with the words _Happy birthday, Kendra!_ Seth dimmed the lights so that the only light came from the sixteen candles on the cake. As the others sang somewhat off-key, Kendra closed her eyes and thought of a wish.

There wasn't much to wish for. The new Zzyzx was tightly sealed, the Society of the Evening Star dissolved, and all well at Fablehaven. Though she was still a Knight of the Dawn, there was no looming crisis, and she wasn't involved with any of the Knights' routine jobs. The main missing piece was their friend Coulter, and no amount of wishing would bring him back.

She had decided on a wish and was about to blow out the candles when someone rang the doorbell. Startled, she opened her eyes to see Grandpa Sorenson hurrying to get the door. Another visitor? She glanced around the table to see if anyone was missing. She couldn't think of someone else who should have been there. Unless it was… But no, he had said he was too busy with the rebuilding.

So she was surprised to see Bracken entering the room behind Grandpa. He smiled when he saw her, and her heart jumped into her throat. With difficulty, she brought her emotions in check. They had only known each other for a few months, and he was thousands of year older than her. Maybe someday… But not today.

"I didn't mean to crash a party," Bracken apologized. "I just knew it was Kendra's birthday and I thought I'd say hello."

"You're always welcome," Mom said. Grandma Sorenson brought in another chair from the kitchen and Bracken sat down gratefully.

Kendra noticed that everyone was looking her expectantly. "There's wax dripping onto the cake," Seth said pointedly.

Looking down, Kendra realized the candles were still burning. She blew on them quickly, needing two puffs of air to put them out. As the group cheered, Mom took the cake to cut it up.

While pieces of cake were being dispensed, the conversation started up again. Kendra took a slice from her mom and went to sit next to Bracken, leaving her dad to fend for himself. She took a bite – delicious, like all food prepared by the brownies – swallowed, and said, "I thought you were busy working in the Fairy Realm."

"I convinced Mother to let me take some time off," Bracken explained. "She sends birthday wishes, by the way."

"Have you opened any new shrines?" Kendra wondered. When she had visited the Fairy Realm a few months ago, the shrine at Fablehaven had still been its only entrance.

"We restored the shrine at the Living Mirage on the condition that Agad won't seal it off again," Bracken said. "He said that he had been searching for a way to destroy the silver dome that surrounded it since he became caretaker. Together, he and my mother dissolved the dome and rebuilt the shrine. The addition of wizard magic made it even more beautiful. They're considering collaborating on some of the other shrines."

"Cool." Kendra took another bite of cake to hide her discomfort. Why couldn't she think of anything more interesting to say?

"How have things been at Fablehaven?" Bracken asked.

"Pretty much the safe," Kendra answered. "Mom and Dad decided to homeschool us rather than drive an hour every day to the closest school, but so far we've learned more along the lines of 'how to properly milk Viola' and 'how to safely navigate the woods.'"

They chattered randomly for a few minutes. Kendra learned that Bracken and his sisters were going to open a new shrine to the Fairy Queen at the Four Pines preserve. When she mentioned that she still hadn't met his sisters, he said that they were eager to meet her, too. He suggested they meet when they could next get time off and when Kendra could take a vacation from homeschooling. Kendra laughed and said that the whole thing had felt like a vacation so far.

During a lull in the conversation, Kendra asked suddenly, "Are you feeling all right? You look pale." She hadn't noticed before, distracted by the fact that she was seeing him for the first time in three months, but Bracken looked wan in the flickering light from the chandelier and his fork trembled slightly in his hand.

"Yes, I'm-" Bracken seemed to think about it and changed his mind about what he was going to say. "No, not really," he admitted. "I should probably-" He stopped midsentence, eyes wide. Before Kendra could ask what was wrong, he slumped over in his chair, unconscious.

Kendra froze, uncomprehending. It had all been so sudden. What had happened?

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>

This isn't exactly my best opening chapter: kind of cheesy, kind of rushed. If you look at the first section (the part with the Fairy King and Ronodin), that will give you a better idea of what I hope this story will become. I also noticed that I didn't include much of what the plot is, but at least I know where it's going, which is more than I can say for most of my stories.

All comments and critique are appreciated (not to mention reviews)!


	2. Seeking Help

**Chapter Two**

Kendra bent over Bracken, worried. He still looked pale and his breathing was shallow. She put her hand to his forehead; he didn't feel unusually warm, but then, she had no idea what was normal for unicorns.

"What's the verdict, Dr. Sorenson?" Seth asked.

"Very funny," Kendra snapped. To Tanu, the closest they had to a real doctor, she said, "What's wrong with him? Will he be all right?"

Tanu sighed wearily and wiped sweat from his brow with a handkerchief. With so many people crowded in it, the attic was rather warm. "I don't know, Kendra," he answered. "There's nothing physically wrong with him, no injuries or signs of illness. He just appears to have fainted."

"Look at his arms and legs, though," Mara pointed out. "He's so rigid. That can't be normal."

"Do you have a potion that could wake him up?" Seth asked.

Before Tanu could answer, Grandma Larsen said, "Maybe we could try-" She was cut off by Dad, who was suggesting something else. Everyone seemed to decide at once to recommend their own idea. The conversation volume rose to a dull roar as everyone tried to make themselves heard.

"Quiet," Tanu ordered loudly. He had to repeat himself several times with increasing volume to get everyone to settle down. When at last all were quiet, he said, "It's much too crowded in here. I request that everyone waits outside, or preferably downstairs. I'll let you know if there's any change."

As the others filed out, Kendra looked at Tanu silently. He seemed to notice the distress on her face and nodded. She sat down in a chair beside the small bed that they had managed to squeeze in between the various piles of clutter strewn about the attic.

She studied Bracken closely. As Mara had mentioned, his arms were straight at his sides. If not for his unnatural position, though, he could have been sleeping. Kendra wondered if he had simply been overtired and they were making a big deal out of nothing, but something instinctive told her that something was very wrong.

Tanu had the contents of his potion pouch spread out on a small table. He picked up a bottle, squinted at the label, and put it down, frowning. Kendra wished she could help somehow, but she didn't know much about the potions and would likely end up asking questions as often as doing something productive.

A quarter of an hour passed, and Kendra realized that Tanu was just sitting in a chair and staring at the bottles before him. She resisted the urge to fly off the handle and demand why he wasn't doing anything. Maybe there was nothing he _could_ do, she reasoned. Maybe they were just going to sit there while Bracken… She stopped that thought cold. This was no time to be jumping to conclusions.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"I'm not much of a healer in the first place," Tanu admitted. "I make the potions healers use, but I don't usually have to use them. Since I know what to use my potions for, I can treat humans in an emergency. Unicorns, though…" Tanu sighed. "I could as easily end up hurting him as helping him."

Kendra's shoulders sagged. The little bubble of hope she'd been nurturing popped, leaving behind a residue of hopelessness.

"Don't give up hope," Tanu said quickly. "Others would know how to help him." Kendra realized what he was thinking of just as he said it. "You should appeal to the Fairy Queen."

A new hopeful bubble quickly blossomed. Kendra held it in check before it could get too big, trying not to get ahead of herself. "I'm only supposed to visit the shrine in an emergency," she reminded Tanu.

"The Fairy Queen's own son, stricken with an ailment of unknown origin – she will undoubtedly view this as a crisis," Tanu said, a hint of a smile on his face.

"It might work," Kendra said. She didn't like the idea of playing on the Fairy Queen's emotions. She might think they were trying to manipulate her – which, in a way, they were. But they had to try.

"You should leave now," Tanu urged. "I don't like the look of his color."

Kendra took one last glance at Bracken – unnaturally pale skin, light breathing – before leaving the attic. She stopped in the front hall, where the others were waiting anxiously, to explain what she was doing. She declined the offer of an escort from Warren since he wouldn't be able to approach the shrine anyway. After hasty goodbyes were made, she left the house and started across the yard.

At times like these she was immensely grateful for her ability as fairykind to see in the dark. By now it was after nine in the evening and clouds covered the moon. She couldn't imagine trying to find her way to the shrine in total darkness, or even with a flashlight, because one can never tell what might be lurking in the shadows created by the flashlight beam. But she could see just as well in the dark as in daylight, so she set off along the path through the woods that led to the shrine to the Fairy Queen.

She saw few fairies on the path, which surprised her. Though it was late for some to be awake, she knew that others loved to come out when the sun was long gone and dance in the moonlight. Perhaps it was too cloudy for the fairies' taste. She glanced up at the ominous sky and shivered, not entirely because of the chill autumn air.

After about twenty minutes of walking, Kendra passed under the arch that marked the entrance to the meadow surrounding the pond. She gladly abandoned the shadows of the forest for the smooth, open grassland. If anything came at her, she would see it from a good distance away.

As she approached the boathouse constructed by Patton Burgess so long ago, she spied a silver-skinned fairy with blue hair and glittering silver wings floating over the still water of the pond. "Shiara!" she called.

The fairy turned at the sound her voice. Identifying Kendra as the speaker, she flew over to her. "Kendra!" Shiara exclaimed, curtsying delicately. "How nice to see you again."

"It's great to see you, too," Kendra said. "Where are all the other fairies?"

Shiara raised her arms to the heavens. "Can you not feel it in the air? Something dark is about tonight," she said gravely.

Kendra glanced again at the cloudy sky and thought of Bracken, lying unconscious back at the house. Could the two be connected? "It's definitely spooky," she agreed.

"What brings you to the shrine tonight?" Shiara asked. "I assume you intend to visit the island. You look troubled."

"Bracken is ill, or injured, or something, and I hope the Fairy Queen can help," Kendra said. She explained the events of the evening.

When she finished, Shiara was frowning. "This is disturbing news," she said. "I myself know nothing of unicorns, but I'm sure the Fairy Queen will be able to help you. Good luck, Kendra." Shiara sped away into the night.

_I'm going to need the luck,_ Kendra thought as she unlatched the door to the boathouse and let herself in. The naiads had never been particularly agreeable when she had tried to cross the pond, and tonight she didn't even have Patton Burgess to help her navigate the water. She surveyed the boats before her. After crossing the pond in the canoe, the paddleboat looked particularly unstable. Carefully, she eased the canoe into the water. She climbed in and the canoe wobbled dangerously, but it didn't capsize. When she chopped at the water experimentally with the oars, it glided forward slowly. So far, so good.

When she floated out to the open waters of the pond, though, it was another story. First the canoe would lurch violently to one side, and then, when Kendra leaned over to balance it out, it would tilt the other way, nearly throwing her in the water. When she tried to steer the boat toward the island, and invisible current pulled her in the opposite direction. She resisted the urge to scream in frustration. That would only bait the naiads further.

After about ten minutes of tug-of-war with the naiads, Kendra was almost ready to give up. Her back ached from strenuous rowing that didn't get her anywhere and blisters were beginning to form on her hands. While she laid the oars across the canoe and took a short break, the naiads began to tow her in circles around the pond. Kendra let them; it wasn't like she had been making much progress anyway.

Finally, the naiads seemed to get bored with game now that Kendra wasn't fighting back. They had left her not too far from the island; if she was quick about it, they might not realize what she was doing until it was too late. But when she went to pick up the oars again, she discovered why the naiads had given up: they had taken her oars! One must have reached over the side of the canoe when she wasn't looking.

This time Kendra did let out a frustrated scream. It echoed back to her across the now-still water. Even to herself, she sounded weak and pathetic. _And maybe I am,_ she thought. Why had she been so careless? It didn't matter much to her that she was stuck in the middle of the pond with no way to get back to the shore, but if she didn't get to the shrine, Bracken might die. As she had the first time she visited the shrine to the Fairy Queen years ago, she started to cry.

Why couldn't she be stronger? Why was she always the weak link? Even her little brother had done some heroic deeds in the past, and he was an idiot. Well, most of the time. But all she was good for was running to the Fairy Queen when they needed help. She tried to tell herself that the Fairy Queen was the only one who _could_ help Bracken, but it sounded like an excuse. And now he would suffer because of her incompetence.

With her face buried in her hands, Kendra didn't notice when the canoe started to move again. She only looked up when the boat connected with the shore of the island with a soft bump. After drying her eyes, she saw ripples where the naiads had likely sunk beneath the surface after helping her. "Thank you," she whispered.

Though it was a bit late to do so, Kendra searched her emotions before stepping onto the island. She detected no innate sense of warning and climbed out of the canoe. She didn't turn into dandelion fluff, so the Fairy Queen was probably all right with her being here. Remembering what had happened the first time she visited the shrine, she pulled the canoe out of the pond, out of reach of the water.

She walked directly to the center of the island and the small clearing that contained the tiny statue of a fairy. When she reached it, she knelt before the statue and waited for the Fairy Queen to reach out to her. It was some time before she felt the greater presence in her mind. The Fairy Queen seemed puzzled and possibly a little irritated.

_Kendra Sorenson,_ the Fairy Queen greeted her. _I did not expect to hear from you so soon. It was hesitant to allow you to approach this shrine at first, but in the past you have always had a valid reason for seeking my aid._

"I would only approach you if it was an emergency, your majesty," Kendra said. "This is urgent. Something has happened to Bracken."

Immense grief immediately gripped Kendra. Tears spilled from her eyes as she felt the Fairy Queen's sadness as her own. Fighting to think through the feelings of pain and loss – Bracken wasn't dead, and he wouldn't be if she had anything to say about it; they didn't even know what was wrong with him or if it was serious – she explained what had happened during dinner, and how he hadn't yet woken, even though it had been three hours.

The Fairy Queen was silent, pondering all Kendra had said. At length she replied, _This is disturbing news. I suspect an ancient evil is afoot._

"But you can heal him, can't you?" Kendra asked anxiously.

_I cannot._ Kendra thought her heart would stop until the Fairy Queen continued, _I am unable to leave my realm. But any experienced healer should be able to wake him. I will see if anyone can be spared._

"Thank you, your majesty," Kendra said fervently.

_I would do anything for my son._ Love, pure and true, flowed into Kendra like a tidal wave. She was startled to find a little of her own mixed in with the Fairy Queen's. _Help will arrive soon. Good luck, my handmaiden._ With those parting words, the presence of the Fairy Queen left the shrine.

Kendra switched to a more comfortable position and settled down beside the statue to wait. Not many minutes had passed, though, when the statue began to glow with an intense white light. A transparent figure seemed to step out of the statue and began to grow rapidly. Soon the figure was human-sized and gradually became solid. Kendra took in the imposing woman suddenly standing before her.

The woman appeared to be sizing Kendra up, too. Her ocean-blue eyes swept over Kendra and seemed to notice every tear in her clothing from her multiple treks through the forest, every hair out of place. She stood at least six feet tall, dwarfing Kendra, but something about her would have made her feel inferior even if she had been much shorter. She held her head high, indicating authority, and her long, dark brown hair in a single braid down her back told Kendra that she had no time for nonsense. Her clothes, a scarlet tunic embroidered with gold thread over perfectly white pants, screamed that she was royalty, not to mention the golden circlet she wore on her head. And her sword, and iridescent blade strapped to her waist, informed Kendra that she was a unicorn.

Kendra felt a sudden urge to curtsy before this great beauty. At the last moment she remembered she wasn't wearing a skirt and saved herself from embarrassment by bowing deeply.

"Greetings, Kendra Sorenson," the woman said. Like when Kendra had spoken with the Fairy Queen in person, the woman's words seemed to echo in her mind as well as in her ears. "I have heard much about you from my mother and my brother. It is a pleasure to meet you at last."

"It's nice to meet you, too," Kendra said calmly, but her head was spinning with excitement. If this woman had heard about her from the Fairy Queen and Bracken – at least, she assumed it was the Fairy Queen and Bracken – did this mean that she was finally meeting one of Bracken's sisters?

"I am Brynn, the eldest of the Fairy Queen's children," the woman said, clearing up that question. "Now, you say something has happened to Bracken?"

Kendra nodded. "We were in the middle of eating dinner and he just collapsed," she said. "We managed to get him up to the attic, one of the safest rooms in the house, and put him in a spare bed, and since then he's just been lying there. Mara, one of our friends, says it doesn't look natural, since he's so stiff. His breathing is shallow, and he's really pale, but he doesn't have a fever," she finished, recounting all of Bracken's symptoms.

Brynn frowned. "All unicorns have a protective state that they can use if they are in great peril," she said. "We put up strong mental barricades and retreat to the farthest corner of our minds. Though we appear to be asleep, we are usually aware of the world around us. Our bodies go into lockdown so we can focus our energy on fending off a severe mental attack. That Bracken has found it necessary to do this is cause for worry. Not many could affect my brother so."

"Can you wake him up?" Kendra asked.

"It may not be wise. It would make it easier for whatever invisible force is assaulting him to cause damage," Brynn explained. "But I can lend it my energy so he can fight it."

"It sounds like we should get going," Kendra said. The sooner they returned to the house the better.

"Yes, lead on," Brynn agreed. The two set off for where Kendra had left the canoe.

* * *

><p>After Kendra left, Tanu set about organizing his potions to give his hands something to do. First he put them in alphabetical order. Then he organized them according to size, and then in a rainbow based on the color of the bottle. When he resorted to sorting them based on the order in which he had acquired or brewed them, he began to worry about Kendra. Why was she taking so long? Perhaps the Fairy Queen had struck her down for treading on the island without permission. Or maybe she hadn't even made it to the pond, and something had attacked her in the woods. Why on earth didn't then send her with an escort?<p>

He was so distracted by his thoughts that he didn't notice the hoarse cough that came from the direction of the bed. When he heard it again, his brain couldn't make sense of it – there was no one else in the room to be coughing. At the third cough, he realized that Bracken was awake.

Tanu turned to see the unicorn struggling to sit up in the bed. He rushed over to adjust the pillows and to prop him up as best he could. Bracken opened his mouth to speak and coughed again. Tanu brought him a cup of water, which he gulped down gratefully.

"Thank you," Bracken gasped hoarsely. He coughed again and cleared his throat. In a clearer voice, he asked, "What happened?"

"You collapsed in the middle of dessert," Tanu answered. "Kendra just went for help."

Bracken seemed worried by this. "She went to the shrine to the Fairy Queen?" he confirmed.

Tanu nodded and said, "We agreed that a unicorn could help you better than any human. But you seem to have woken on your own, which is a relief. Do you know what caused you to faint, for lack of a better word?"

"Since I arrived I sense of something dark in the air, but I passed it off as paranoia," Bracken said thoughtfully. "I felt like I was gradually weakening, but I couldn't place the feeling. And then everything seemed to be coming at me at once… I have no memory of what happened after that."

"I see," Tanu said. He had an urge to take notes on what Bracken was saying, for it was like nothing he had heard of before. "And do you sense any darkness now?

"No, nothing," Bracken replied.

Tanu was about to ask another question when he heard the lock click and the door swing open. He turned, irritated, to send whoever it was away, and saw that Kendra had returned. She was accompanied by a tall woman who was almost certainly a unicorn, as evidenced by the pearly sword at her waist.

Kendra's face lit up when she saw that Bracken was awake. The other unicorn looked troubled, though, which didn't make sense.

"Brynn!" Bracken exclaimed, catching sight of the two. "Why are you here?"

The unicorn – Brynn, Tanu supposed – didn't answer. Kendra said, "Tanu, this is Brynn, one of Bracken's sisters. She came to heal – wait, no…" She trailed off as if something had just occurred to her.

"Bracken had retreated to what is known as the Final Sanctuary. It is near impossible to wake a unicorn when they are in this state, not to mention dangerous," Brynn said, looking at Tanu coldly. "Did you do something to wake him?"

Tanu shook his head. "No, he woke on his own."

Brynn frowned, appearing to be thinking hard. "There are only two ways Bracken could have woken," she murmured, half to herself. "If the danger had passed, or if…" She raised her voice and addressed the room at large. "I do not know who this is, but I can confidently tell you that he is not my brother."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>

I'm not usually one to end on a cliffhanger like this, but this time I couldn't resist. Don't worry, all will be revealed in the next chapter!

I know I reverted to Tanu's point of view at the end there, and that was a little weird, but I couldn't think of a better way to write it. Other than that, I'm quite pleased with this chapter! Yes, I dragged my favorite of Bracken's sisters into this, but she will have a slightly different role than the one she played in the other story she showed up in. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, don't worry, because it's not relevant to the plot.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! All comments, critique, and really any reviews in general, are greatly appreciated.


	3. Spirits and Darkness

**Chapter Three**

Kendra's first impulse was to think that Brynn was lying, or was at least mistaken. How could this not be Bracken?

Bracken – if it really was him – seemed to be thinking along the same lines. "Brynn, don't talk such foolishness," he said. "Of course I'm you're brother. Do you not remember all we did together as we grew up?"

"What do you mean?" Tanu asked Brynn. "Is he a stingbulb?"

Brynn held up her hands for silence. "Perhaps I should clarify," she said. "This _is_ Bracken, and we _are_ of the same blood. That was a poor choice of words. What I meant is that while this is Bracken's body, it is not Bracken who is controlling it. Someone – or something – else has taken possession of him," she said.

"A narcoblix?" Kendra asked, though it didn't seem likely. Blixes were creatures similar to vampires that could affect their victim through a bite. Narcoblixes could control those they had bitten in their sleep. The only narcoblix she could think of was Vanessa, who was supposedly on their side, and she couldn't have gotten close enough to bite Bracken.

"No, it is impossible for a blix of any kind to hold power over a unicorn," Brynn said. "I fear this is something much darker. Though it seems impossible, I would guess that somehow a spirit forced its way into his mind."

Tanu inhaled in shock. "A spirit?" he exclaimed. "I thought they had all faded away."

"Some remain," said Brynn. "The captain of the ghost ship the _Lady Luck _is among the most well-known. A few wanderers linger, too, roaming the world of the living until they are completely forgotten. But it has been thousands of years since the essences of dead creatures have remained in our world rather than passing over to the Realm of the Dead. I assumed all that were left were accounted for – except, apparently, for one especially powerful spirit."

"How can you be so certain in your beliefs?" Bracken asked. Kendra thought she detected the tiniest bit of worry in his voice.

A seed of doubt was beginning to form in her own mind. Yes, the person lying in the bed definitely looked like Bracken, but there was something about the way he spoke that was off. His manner was more formal than Bracken's usually was, and he accented his words in a slightly different fashion. It wasn't much to go on, but it did seem possible that this wasn't the unicorn she knew so well.

"Unicorns have a distinct aura about them I immediately noticed that Bracken's essence seemed to be tainted, mixed with that of another," Brynn said. Kendra noticed that she referred to Bracken in the third person, as if she has already accepted that she was speaking to someone else.

"Can you figure out _who's_ possessed him?" Kendra asked. She still wasn't entirely sure Brynn was right.

The unicorn nodded. "Yes, it should be easy to tell," she said. She approached Bracken, who made no attempt to stop her, and pressed her index finger to his forehead.

Three things then happened at once. Bracken's eyes began glowing a deep, ruby red, there was a crack like someone flicking a whip, and Brynn crumpled to the ground, unconscious.

Kendra watched in shock as Bracken rose from the bed, betraying no weakness, his eyes still that unnerving shade of crimson, though less luminous. He walked to the center of the room and stretched luxuriously, seemingly oblivious to her and Tanu's presence. "Oh, how glorious to have a body again," he cried in a voice that was not his own. Even when Bracken had addressed them just before the battle on Shoreless Isle, he had not managed the same sense of majesty that filled this strange voice now. "How wonderful to have an instrument through which I can channel my powers, and how amazing to be able to walk about like a man again. 'Tis a pity that the fool parted with his true form as a unicorn, but I surrendered my own long ago in exchange for greater power, so 'tis not such a great loss. And besides, I am more than capable of shaping myself a new body!"

Kendra watched in horror as Bracken grew larger until he dwarfed even Tanu and had muscles to rival Trask's. But the most terrifying to watch was the transformation of his face. His hair darkened until it was nearly black and features became hard and angry. He remained handsome, and beneath it all Kendra could see that he was still Bracken, and that was what drove a knife through her heart.

This new, darker Bracken turned to Kendra. "I shall leave you with your life, for I know the prince had taken a liking to you for reasons I cannot comprehend, and you are of little threat to me now. But if we cross paths again and our objectives differ, know that I will kill you as I will kill all who stand beside you." He turned away from her, preparing to leave.

Kendra trembled at the malice in his words. She had no doubt that he meant what he said. But there was a part of her – a part that her other, more sensible half thought was crazy – that saw not the evil being who stood before her, but the _good_ being he looked like. That insane, desperate half took control of her mouth and whimpered weakly, "Bracken."

Bracken halted and looked back at her. Was it possible that he seemed a little less angry? Gaining confidence, Kendra whispered, "Bracken, don't do this."

Impossibly, Bracken's eyes reverted to their normal silvery-blue. "Kendra," he gasped, sounding like himself again. And then the dark Bracken returned, eyes once again that ghastly color. For a moment he looked murderous, and Kendra waited for him to blast her into smithereens or do something equally painful. But he seemed to regain control of his temper. "You disgust me," he growled to himself.

He turned once again as if to leave. Tanu lunged at him, but suddenly the world seemed to converge on the spot where Bracken stood and he vanished into nothing. Tanu hit the floor with a painful-sounding _thump_.

Kendra helped him up. "Nice try," she said, her voice trembling slightly.

"If only I'd been a second faster, but he just wouldn't turn his back on me," Tanu sighed.

"He probably would have stopped you anyhow," Kendra said.

"That was some serious magic he did," Tanu agreed. "What _was_ that?"

"Brynn would probably know," said Kendra. She glanced at the unicorn, who still lay on the ground. "Do you think she's in the Final Sanctuary, too?"

"No, she's coming around. See?" Tanu said, pointing. Brynn was indeed beginning to stir.

A few moments later, Brynn sat up, groaning. "Foolish," she muttered. "Absolutely foolish. Not to mention overconfident, too."

"What was foolish?" Kendra asked as Brynn stood up.

"I was foolish," Brynn said. She chuckled bitterly. "I didn't think that if a spirit could defeat my brother, it could certainly overpower me."

"Are you hurt?" Tanu asked, already reaching for his potion pouch.

"Save your elixirs, potion master," Brynn said. "I am fine; only my pride is injured. But if nothing else, I did discover who has taken possession of Bracken."

"Who?" Kendra and Tanu asked together.

Brynn shook her head. "We should discuss this with everyone," she said. Something in her tone stopped Kendra from prying further. Though Brynn displayed as little feeling as Bracken usually did, it sounded like her emotions bubbled close to the surface, kept in check only by millennia of experience. What – or who – could she have seen in Bracken's mind to cause such distress?

"Well, let's go," Kendra pushed. The sooner they were downstairs, the sooner they could find out who had possessed Bracken, and the sooner Brynn could tell them how to fix everything. The unicorn surely knew what to do in a case like this.

It was a desperate hope, but Kendra clung to it like a life preserver, because she couldn't bear the thought of losing Bracken.

* * *

><p>In the space of three minutes, everything had turned upside-down for Seth.<p>

As soon as Kendra, Tanu, and the unknown unicorn had trudged downstairs – without Bracken, Seth had noted – he had just _known_. Something was wrong. They had had their five months of peace, and now it was back into the action for them.

Everyone had gathered in the living room to hear what the unicorn had to say.

She had introduced herself as Brynn, one of the daughters of the Fairy Queen and thus one of Bracken's sisters. She had explained – surprisingly calmly – that a powerful spirit had somehow possessed Bracken and taken control of his body. With great detail, she had described the transformation he had undergone had how he had vanished into nothing.

Everyone seemed shocked. Seth said, somewhat confused, "But I thought we were done with adventure."

Nobody replied to his comment. His mom asked Brynn, "Do you think you could explain a little about spirits and whatnot? I don't really understand it."

Brynn sank into an armchair and began to speak. "Long, long, ago, when creatures – animals and humans and magical creatures alike – died, rather than fade into the oblivion now known to some as the Realm of the Dead, their spirits lingered in this world," she explained. "These spirits were capable of coherent thought, but were invisible to the world of the living, and with nothing to do, they gradually forgot themselves. All of this changed, however, when a particularly vengeful spirit, once a powerful wizard, was so intent on taking down his assassins that he forced himself into the body of a man, something no one had thought possible. His strong will crushed the spirit of the man and he took control of his body.

"The assassins didn't see him coming, and the wizard killed them all. But revenge wasn't enough for him. He gained power quickly after that, meddling with politics and causing terror. He chose a new body to inhabit whenever his old one was killed. But the spirits he had crushed were freed when their bodies died, and they learned from the wizard's actions and caused chaos of their own. It was a dangerous time to be alive.

"Eventually, the other ancient wizards caught on. They came together and, combining their powers, created the Realm of the Dead. Now whenever creatures die, their spirits joined the oblivion that awaits us all in the end. This chapter in history was gradually forgotten, since not many people actually knew of the spirits' wars, and most of the spirits faded from existence. Very few remain from that early time. The captain of the _Lady Luck_ is one, an innocent child who died of natural causes and went on to greatness. A few others, scholars who still enjoy learning, persist. And one of the ancient wizards, who possessed a man to write the book from which I learned of this, lives on," Brynn finished.

"But what does this have to do with Bracken?" Grandma Larsen asked.

"All of this happened long before the first unicorns walked the earth, so when the first unicorn was born, creatures had been passing into oblivion when they died for centuries already. Because no unicorn spirits dwell in the world of the living, and because of our great power, we have forever assumed that no spirit would be strong enough would be strong enough to overcome us. But somehow…" Brynn paused, and when she continued, Seth detected a tremor in her voice. "Somehow, a dark spirit has taken possession of Bracken."

"Who is it?" Kendra prompted. She was sitting next to Seth, on the edge of the sofa, leaning forward with anticipation.

Brynn's reply was barely audible. "Ronodin, the dark unicorn."

The name meant nothing to Seth. The others seemed to feel the same; they exchanged perplexed glances, and Warren whispered to Trask, "I've never heard of him."

Brynn sighed. "I had forgotten; Ronodin was killed thousands of years ago, and he brought about little discussion in the human world. But in the Fairy Realm, Ronodin was considered as great a threat as the Demon King. He created a vast army of demons and other dark beings and waged war on creatures of light. In the end he was slain by my father on the battlefield of the Battle of Forsaken Souls. I was but an adolescent at the time, but I recall being so glad that the world was finally cleansed of one great evil…" She trailed off, lost in memories.

"How do you know that it's this _Ronodin_ who's possessed Bracken?" asked Elise. "How can you even tell he's been possessed in the first place?"

"I am quite familiar with the feel of Ronodin's mind," Brynn asserted. "Years ago, before he made his true intentions known, Ronodin was my mentor in magic. As teacher and student, he and I developed a strong mental bond. When he betrayed my family and the war began, I used the connection to decipher his strategies and anticipate his maneuvers. I shall never forget what it felt like to touch a mind of such pure evil."

"What if you're in league with Ronodin?" Grandpa Larsen challenged. "Maybe you're using this mental link to communicate."

Brynn's eyes flashed dangerously. "Are you accusing me of treason?" she demanded. Composing herself, she explained, "Ronodin blocked me from his thoughts when he realized what I was doing. The connection was severed when he died."

"But if he supposedly died, how is it possible that he possessed Bracken?" asked Trask.

"I have no definite answer to that question," Brynn replied. "I can only speculate. Perhaps he discovered some dark sorcery that allowed him to continue to exist after his body was destroyed. Perhaps it wasn't truly his body, only one he chose to inhabit, and he is actually an ancient, spectral being, though this seems highly unlikely. Only Ronodin himself knows."

"But how can we cure him?" Kendra asked.

Brynn seemed perplexed by the question. "What do you mean?"

"How do we get Bracken back? How do we get the evil spirit out of him?" Kendra's voice rose with each word.

With a sigh – not one of exasperation, but one of deep and utter regret – Brynn said, "I don't know."

Kendra leapt up. "What?" she shrieked. "How can you not know?"

"Kendra, calm down," Mom instructed sharply. Seth grabbed his sister's hand and pulled her back onto the sofa. She sank down onto the cushions. Catching a glimpse of her face, her eyes brimming with tears, Seth knew that Kendra had only lashed out at Brynn out of grief.

"Our best chance to save Bracken has passed us by," Brynn explained. "Had we returned but a few minutes earlier, before Ronodin had crushed Bracken's resistance, Bracken and I may have been able to fight him off together. But now Ronodin has taken control."

"But there must be _something_ we can do," Kendra protested.

"Even if we think of something, we are very short on time. Based on the extent of Ronodin's power, and the strength of my brother's spirit, we have at most a week before Ronodin is permanently settled," said Brynn.

"You mean the spirit does not yet have full power over Bracken?" Tanu verified. Seth thought he might see the slightest glimmer of hope in the Samoan's eyes.

Brynn nodded. "In the texts I read, it said that it usually took the invasive spirit some time to adjust to its new body."

"Then we might have a chance," Tanu declared. He paused for dramatic effect, which resulted in a number of expectant glances and one eyeroll from Mara. Apparently realizing that this was the only reaction he was going to get, he said simply, "The Memory Glass."

"It was destroyed centuries ago," Brynn said immediately. "Don't think I wouldn't have mentioned it already if it was an option."

"What exactly is the Memory Glass?" Kendra asked Tanu. "I heard you and Grandpa talking about it at dinner, but you weren't really clear about what it was."

"None living know exactly what it looked like, save Agad, who created it, and perhaps a few of the older wizards," explained Brynn. "In theory, the Memory Glass was a mirror in an ornate, gilded frame."

"But what does it do? How can it help Bracken?" Seth, who hadn't overheard the conversation between Tanu and Grandpa Larsen, didn't see what good some old mirror was going to do against a powerful spirit.

"Simply put, if the possessed person looks into the Memory Glass, they recognize their true self and the unwelcome spirit is forced to leave," said Tanu.

"The legends say it was unreliable and didn't remove the spirit immediately," Brynn interjected. "It just dislodged the spirit, and gave the body's true spirit an opportunity to regain control."

"So if we could find this Memory Glass, and get Bracken to look into it, he could push Ronodin out of his body." Kendra was practically bouncing up and down with excitement.

Seth, on the other hand, remained skeptical. It seemed too far-fetched. All Bracken had to do was seem himself in the Memory Glass and poof! Ronodin was gone? He knew from experience it was never that easy. "Brynn said it would just give Bracken a chance to push Ronodin out," he pointed out. "And if Ronodin could squish him down in the first place, why can't he just do it again?"

"If Brynn was there, she could lend Bracken energy, like she said she was going to when I first told her about it," Kendra said. "You could, right?" She directed this last part at the unicorn.

"Hypothetically, yes, I could," Brynn replied. "But the point remains: the Memory Glass was destroyed."

"Some claim it still exists," said Tanu. "Every couple decades or so-"

Brynn cut him off. "Yes, yes, I know. They _claim_. There's no solid evidence."

"There's no proof it was destroyed, either," Tanu countered. "That's just what everyone assumes."

"It's the logical conclusion to draw," Brynn snapped.

Tanu opened his mouth to respond, but Grandpa Sorenson interrupted him. "Why was the Memory Glass supposedly destroyed, Brynn?" he asked.

"Agad created it when the notion of inhabiting someone else's body first originated," Brynn began. "He was a young wizard then, and he had not yet surrendered his form as a dragon, and his magic was erratic. If the person who looked into the Glass wasn't possessed, or sometimes even if they were, there was a chance their own spirit could be ejected. Agad decided it would be best if it was no longer used."

"That doesn't mean he destroyed it," muttered Tanu. Brynn ignored him.

"The wizards toyed with the idea of creating another, more reliable Glass someday, but they created the Realm of the Dead instead. As the number of spirits dwindled, the need for a Memory Glass diminished, and eventually the wizards forgot," she finished.

"Could Agad make another one?" Mara suggested.

Brynn shook her head. "We're on a deadline," she reminded them. "It would take far too long."

"It could still exist," Tanu persisted. "I heard of the latest claim from a friend of mine last week – normally I wouldn't even consider it, because really, who would have the Memory Glass hanging up in their house like any old mirror? – but it sounds somewhat credible. The house of the person who said they had it was ransacked recently. Someone else is looking for the Memory Glass, too."

"We're short on options, and a slim chance is better than no chance," Grandpa Sorenson decided. "We should start doing some research immediately."

"I could do some digging among the Knights of the Dawn," Warren volunteered.

"I will return to the Fairy Realm and search the palace library," Brynn announced. "Perhaps there's something I overlooked."

"How will we keep in touch with you?" Kendra asked.

Brynn pulled a small coin from her pocket and cupped it in her hands. Her hands glowed brightly for a moment. She handed the coin to Kendra. Seth realized she had turned it into a communicator.

Kendra had come to the same conclusion. "Just like Bracken," she murmured.

Brynn smiled sadly. "Yes. It's a habit I picked up from him." She turned to go, but stopped suddenly and faced the humans again. "Thank you," she whispered.

"For what?" Seth asked. They hadn't done anything yet, really; there was nothing for her to thank them for.

"For not giving up on Bracken," Brynn answered. "I had abandoned hope from the moment I realized it was Ronodin in my brother's body. But you resilient humans will cling to even the slightest hope. It gives me courage." With that, she turned and left.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>

So someone gets possessed/captured/etc. and the person who loves them runs off to save them. Has it been done before? Yes. Is it incredibly cliché? Well, maybe a little xD I promise to try to make this a little more unique than your standard possession story. I know this chapter was all dialogue and no action, but hopefully it cleared up a few things. More excitement coming up later on, I promise!


	4. Losing Control

**Chapter Four**

For the third time in his life, Bracken was imprisoned.

The first time, he had been taken as a prisoner of war after he got too confident in his skills as a swordsman. The strong demon had overpowered him, but, rather than kill him, had thrown him into a dingy cell at one of the demons' army camps. He wasn't entirely sure that counted, though, for the Fairy Army had overrun the camp within hours of his capture.

The second and most memorable time, the Sphinx had cornered him at Living Mirage preserve and cast him into the dungeon. He had spent many lonely and desolate years wandering among the other prisoners and praying for release. After his escape hundreds of years alter, he had learned to better appreciate and treasure his freedom.

And now here he was again, helpless and trapped in a cage.

It wasn't a real cage, he was fairly certain. For it to be a real cage would require him to be in his real body. Instead he was tucked away in the farthest corner of his mind, out of the way of Ronodin's self-proclaimed "grand plans." Here he could only watch in horror as the dark unicorn slowly took control of his body.

Bracken wasn't sure how much time had passed since Ronodin had put him in this dark corner. It could have been minutes, hours, days, or years; he had no sense of time moving here. Everything blurred together in the blackness. He huddled into himself, afraid of losing his grip on who he was. And yet he could feel his consciousness slipping away.

This truly terrified Bracken. He wasn't really in his body, so he couldn't be falling asleep. What did it mean, then? Was Ronodin placing some spell on him? Or was the dark unicorn trying to slowly crush Bracken's spirit until nothing remained? Was this the end? Was he dying?

No. He couldn't die, not yet. He couldn't do this to them, any of them. His mother, who had already lost him once when he went to Living Mirage. His sisters, so glad to have him back after all these years: Brynn, who no longer longed for someone to study with; Gardenia, who finally had the person who tolerated her chatter back; Virtue, who had someone different to bounce ideas off of again; and Ophelia, who could once again confide in him as they had confided in each other in the past. And his father… The Fairy King _couldn't_ wake up to discover that his only son had perished.

Bracken struggled to bring their faces to the front of his mind. Ronodin's spirit growled in frustration and brought back the wall of darkness. Bracken soon discovered that if he summoned the images to his little corner, rather to the center of his mind where they would be the main focus, Ronodin wouldn't notice right away. The sight of his family gave him strength. Not nearly enough to attempt further resistance, but it was better than being eroded away to nothing.

Feeling slightly more optimistic, Bracken turned to a more pressing matter: how had this happened? He slowly reviewed his memories from Kendra's birthday dinner, gradually pulling them to the back of his mind to avoid attracting Ronodin's attention. He recalled arriving at Fablehaven and feeling a vague sense of foreboding. But because Bahumat still resided at the preserve, he had assumed he was just detecting the demon's dark aura, never mind that he had never sensed such a thing at Fablehaven before. And then when he had actually entered the house, the traces of darkness became slight waves of nausea of all things, which had shocked as well as worried him. He had sat down at the table, talked to Kendra… That was when he had truly sensed Ronodin. It had been so many years that he hadn't recognized the dark unicorn at first, not until it was too late. A rush of wind, and then suddenly Ronodin was in his mind, struggling to take over.

Bracken had acted quickly after that. He hadn't known how it was possible that Ronodin was still alive, why he was in spirit form, or why he had chosen to attack Bracken – in fact, he still didn't know the answers to these questions – but he had known what he had to do. He had summoned all his energy, even drawing some from the tenuous thread that connected him to his third horn and the Font of Immortality, and rapidly begun putting up magical defenses in his mind. If it _was_ Ronodin assaulting him, he had reasoned, it didn't matter that no unicorn ever returned from the Final Sanctuary; he was worse than dead anyway. With a final burst of energy, he had permanently sealed off his mind- and sealed Ronodin within it.

If nothing else, his sacrifice had delayed the dark unicorn, because nothing could stop him forever. Even now, Ronodin chopped at the mental barriers. Every burst of dark energy he hurled was like a knife through Bracken's spirit; apparently he could still feel pain even though he wasn't connected to his body. Such defenses were meant to preserve the essence of the unicorn who erected them, and were not designed to be attacked from this inside.

As a spirit imprisoned in his own mind, Bracken could make no real noise, but after a particularly save hit, he discovered that he could scream mentally. Much to his surprise, it alleviated the pain to a certain degree, giving him something else to think about. He slowly breathed in and out, exercising ghostly lungs. When he concentrated, he found he could stand. He still saw nothing, but perhaps that was because there was nothing to see. He was still trapped in his mind, but somehow, he had gained substance.

How would this possible? His sister Brynn would know, what with all the books she read. But Bracken, an uneducated fool by comparison, could only speculate.

After some time, he became aware that a spiritual form of Ronodin stood before him. He could not see his hated enemy. He guessed this was because he could only see if his eyes – his body's eyes – were open, and even then he would only see the outside world, not what dwelled within his brain. But no sight was necessary to know that Ronodin was angry.

_Suppose you think you're smart, creating barriers to keep me in,_ Ronodin hissed. Bracken heard no sound; rather, the dark unicorn's words echoed in the mind they shared.

_No, I was actually rather foolish,_ Bracken answered. Knowing that Ronodin was unable to harm him here made him bolder than usual. _My intent was to prevent you from entering my mind in the first place._

_ Had you been a few seconds earlier, you may have succeeded,_ Ronodin admitted. _But what did you expect to gain from making the ultimate sacrifice? Possessing you was personal preference; nothing could have stopped me from inhabiting another unicorn foolish enough to leave the Fairy Realm and using them for my plans._

_ I don't know what I thought would happen. _Bracken tried not to think about how he had hoped to protect Kendra and the others. But, of course, acknowledging that he needed to guard these thoughts brought them to the surface of his mind.

Ronodin misinterpreted Bracken's emotions, though. _You think your family will be safe? _Ronodin seemed to be laughing at him. _Once the humans find they can't wake you, to whom do you think they will run? Perhaps the Fairy Queen herself will come to your aid, though that seems a tad much to hope for._

Bracken tried to block out the rest of Ronodin's dark mutterings – not an easy task, considering that they were his own thoughts, in a way. So instead he chose to ignore the dark unicorn, much as Ronodin ignored him as he continued to attack the barriers.

With a great splintering that sent waves of pain through Bracken's spirit, the mental blockades fell at last. He was aware that if he seized the moment he could now possibly take control before Ronodin, but he couldn't focus. As the agony persisted, Bracken slowly realized that this was Ronodin's doing, incapacitating him so Ronodin could take over. He struggled to muster energy to resist, to even form a coherent thought, but the pain increased until it felt like a heavy weight imbedded with spikes sat on top of him.

Just as Bracken was to the point where he thought he could take it no longer, something snapped and the pressure vanished. He gasped in air, or whatever he was breathing, hardly able to believe that his body wasn't riddled with holes, but of course, that would require his having a body.

Ronodin let out an exultant cry.

Feeling returned to Bracken all at once. He became conscious of air flowing in and out of his lungs – _real_ lungs – and of his heart beating steadily. He knew he lay on a soft mattress, with a thin blanket over him; his head rested on a pillow. Someone else moved nearby; he heard the clink of glass as objects knocked gently into each other.

He yearned to open his eyes and see all these things for himself. And why couldn't he? He concentrated for the smallest fraction of a second on the minute action that would cause his eyelids to flicker open. Nothing happened. He tried again, and still could get no response. What was wrong with him? Was he so near death that he couldn't even move? But that made no sense; he felt perfectly healthy. Everything _seemed_ normal, but as he experimented he found that he could control absolutely nothing. He couldn't even force himself to halt his breathing momentarily. Even if the rest of his body was paralyzed, surely he should have been able to control that small motion.

Somewhere, deep inside, he knew the reason, but he refused to acknowledge it.

_Yes,_ Ronodin hissed. Bracken cringed away from the malevolence in his voice. Ronodin seemed to be pleased about something, and it couldn't be good.

Finally, Bracken's eyes opened. He rapidly took in his surroundings, trying not to dwell on the fact that he couldn't swivel his gaze from side to side. He was fairly certain he was still at Fablehaven, but not in a room he recognized. From the slope of the ceiling he would have guessed he was in the attic, thought it looked nothing like the bedroom Kendra and Seth shared. Perhaps this was the secret room on the other side? There did seem to be a great deal of clutter pushed to the side to make room for the bed in which he lay. Someone sat at a table at the edge of his vision. It was probably Tanu, judging by his size, though his back was turned.

Though he hadn't intended to speak right away, he opened his mouth anyway. He tried to ask what had happened (but he knew what had happened, so why was he asking?) but it felt like his throat was coated with sandpaper. He coughed once, twice, three times, trying to clear his throat. Next he attempted to sit up, but he found he was too weak to even prop himself up on his pillows.

Ronodin growled wordlessly.

Tanu turned toward Bracken at the noise. The Samoan quickly stood up and fetched a glass of water from a side table. After a second's hesitation, Bracken reached for the glass, his movements strangely jerky and uncoordinated. The water sloshed dangerously. Still, he managed to drink it down without spilling much. The liquid soothed his throat and enabled him to talk.

"What happened?" Bracken asked hoarsely. He frowned mentally, noting as he did so that his muscles didn't respond. He had meant to thank Tanu for the water first.

"You collapsed in the middle of dessert. Kendra went for help," Tanu explained.

Now Bracken's forehead creased in worry. If Kendra returned with one of his sisters, they would be playing right into Ronodin's hands. "She went to the shrine?" he confirmed.

Tanu nodded. "We agreed that a unicorn could help you better than any human," he said. "But you seem to have woken on your own, which is a relief. Do you know what caused you to faint, for lack of a better word?"

Bracken wanted to tell Tanu about Ronodin, that the dark unicorn was currently in his mind, rifling through his memories of dinner, but he remained stubbornly silent. At last he replied, "Since I arrived, I sensed something dark in the air, but I passed it off as paranoia." True, but not what he had meant to say. "I felt like I was gradually weakening, though I couldn't place it." Also true, but there were other, more important things to mention. "And then everything seemed to be coming at me at once… I have no memory of what happened after that." This was a lie; he could recall only too well his intense mental battle with Ronodin. He needed to tell Tanu these things, so _why wouldn't his body respond the way he wanted it to?_

"I see. And do you sense any darkness now?" Tanu asked.

_Yes! _Bracken wanted to shout. There was a dark spirit _in his body_, for crying out loud. "No, nothing," he answered against his will.

_Stop,_ Ronodin ordered suddenly. _Stop resisting. You have no change of regaining control, and you're only making this more difficult for both of us._

Bracken refused to accept what he knew to be the truth. _You can never-_

_I can and I will, _Ronodin stated calmly. _I would prefer not to obliterate you completely, but I can make your existence very painful. Let's not make this less pleasant than necessary._

Defeated, Bracken pulled his spirit into a tight ball and retreated to that farthest corner. Ronodin began preparing a response to a question Bracken had missed. Both returned to ignoring each other, for the time being.

Before Ronodin could answer Tanu, though, the combination lock on the attic door turned and clicked, and the door swung open. Bracken – or rather, his body, instructed by Ronodin – turned to look at the newcomer. Bracken's heart soared as he recognized Brynn and Kendra, but at the same time he felt a dark sense of foreboding. Yes, they might be ale to help him, but at the same time, Ronodin could use their presence against him, threatening them if he didn't cooperate.

"Brynn! Why are you here?" Bracken exclaimed. For now, he decided it would be best to go along with what Ronodin had planned. He saw nothing wrong with deluding himself that he even had the option to make this decision.

Brynn didn't answer. She kept her eyes on Bracken, and he felt almost like she could see straight into his mind, see him lurking helplessly in the corner while Ronodin ran the show.

Kendra said to Tanu, "Tanu, this is Brynn, one of Bracken's sisters. She came to heal – well, no…" She trailed off, looking confused. Bracken knew what she meant. Brynn had come to retrieve him from the Final Sanctuary – or perhaps to pay final goodbyes, since she knew as well as he how impossible it was to wake a unicorn from that permanent slumber – and now that he was awake, was Brynn needed after all?

"Bracken had retreated to what is known as the Final Sanctuary. It is near impossible to wake a unicorn while they are in this state, not to mention dangerous. Did you do something to wake him?" Brynn asked, glaring at Tanu. She sounded exactly like she had when she had chewed Bracken out when he had returned to the Fairy Realm after the battle on Shoreless Isle.

"No, miss," Tanu replied, shaking his head vigorously. "He woke on his own."

Bracken saw understanding light in Brynn's eyes, to be quickly replaced by worry. She knew something was terribly wrong, but how would she act on it?

Brynn shifted her gaze back to Bracken. The look she gave him was so full of loathing that his spirit recoiled, stunned. He had to remind himself that she had directed it at the evil spirit in her brother's body. Unless she was mad at him for being dumb enough to get possessed in the first place, which was possible.

"I do not know who this is, but I can confidently tell you that it is not my brother," Brynn announced. Bracken resisted the urge to cheer while Ronodin ground his teeth.

Confusion flashed across Kendra's face, followed by suspicion and doubt. Bracken could tell she doubted Brynn's assertion, and he hoped desperately she would soon see the truth in his sister's words.

"Brynn, don't talk such foolishness. Of course I'm your brother. Do you not remember all we did together as we grew up?" Bracken asked. Stress caused Ronodin to slip into his usual, formal way of speaking.

"What exactly do you mean?" asked Tanu. "Is he a stingbulb?"

Brynn held up her hands. "Perhaps I should clarify. This _is_ Bracken, and we _are_ of the same blood. That was a poor choice of words. What I meant is that while this is Bracken's body, it is not Bracken who is controlling it. Someone – or something – else has taken possession of him."

Bracken tried not to get his hopes up. Even though Brynn was on the right track, it remained impossible for her to remove Ronodin from his body; all artifacts designed to dislodge invasive spirits had been lost centuries ago. And even if she had such an artifact, Ronodin was so strong that even in spirit form, he could easily overpower both Brynn and Bracken. But if she could get word to the Fairy Queen or his other sisters, then they might have a chance.

_You will _never_ have a chance, _Ronodin hissed. _Your dear sisters will never find out what truly happened to you. I need only dispose of my former spirit. _With a sweeping motion – Bracken felt dark magic wash over him like a breeze – Ronodin thrust Bracken to the ground and pinned him there.

The outside conversation continued, the others oblivious to Bracken's internal battle.

"…I assumed all that were left were accounted for. Except, apparently, for one especially powerful spirit," Brynn was saying.

"How can you be so certain of your beliefs?" Bracken challenged, a hint of worry in his voice. Bracken noted that with every word, Ronodin spoke more like his true self; the charade was faltering.

"Unicorns have a distinct aura about them," Brynn said, as if she were explaining things for Kendra and Tanu and largely ignoring Bracken. "I immediately noticed that Bracken's essence seemed to be tainted, mixed with that of another."

"Can you figure out _who's_ possessing him?" Kendra asked.

Brynn nodded. "Yes, it should be easy to tell."

_No!_ Bracken shouted mentally. Ronodin ignored him, already gathering his power to attack. Bracken's bonds vanished as the energy in them was pulled into the dark ball between Ronodin's insubstantial hands.

Bracken cursed silently. Brynn's overconfidence had returned. Someday, it was going to be her downfall. It almost had been, once, when she had believed she could confront Ronodin alone. The Fairy Queen had arrived at the last moment, but she had been forced to shield the magically drained Brynn instead of defeating Ronodin. Now Bracken's eldest sister was making the same mistake again, underestimating her enemy.

With a resigned sigh, Bracken pulled his own power from inside of him. Unlike Brynn and his parents, he had never sought to use his magic for anything but the standard healing, so all he had was raw energy, but it would have to do. Just as Ronodin unleashed a bolt of pure darkness at Brynn's venturing tendril of energy, Bracken thrust his power in front of his sister's, deflecting most of the blow. In the split second that all three of their minds touched, Bracken felt Ronodin's irritation, directed mostly at him, and Brynn's shock, aimed at Ronodin. Then the connection split, and Brynn fell to the ground, unconscious.

The whiplash caused by the collision of their magic sent Bracken sprawling. He lay where he landed, barely retaining consciousness. The effort had taken more out of him than he would have hoped, enough to worry about. No wonder Ronodin had been able to defeat him so easily!

Suddenly Bracken was climbing out the bed. He strode to the center of the attic room, stretching stiff muscles. It was bizarre to be so weak in mind yet so strong in body, reminding him once again that Ronodin was in control.

"Oh, how glorious to have a body again!" Ronodin had abandoned all pretence and had adopted his true manner of speaking. It was strange for Bracken to know that he was speaking, and yet to hear a voice other than his own coming from his mouth. "How wonderful to have an instrument through which to channel my powers and how amazing to be able to walk like a man again. 'Tis a pity that this fool parted with his true form as a unicorn, but I surrendered my own long ago in exchange for great power, so 'tis not too great a loss. And besides, I can shape myself a new body!"

Bracken cringed as undiluted dark magic began flowing through his veins. His instincts screamed at him to run, to get away from this evil, but there was nowhere to flee. How could he escape his own body? Through the agony, he was vaguely aware of his bones and muscles stretching, reshaping themselves to Ronodin's wishes. From the way Kendra and Tanu backed away warily, he knew that the transformation must have been frightening to watch.

At last the pain diminished. Bracken thought at first that Ronodin had withdrawn his dark magic, but he realized he could still feel it within him. With growing horror, he came to the conclusion that his body had accepted the magic as its own. The transformation had gone much deeper than physical appearance.

He was quickly distracted from that awful thought when his gaze shifted to Kendra. He waited anxiously; what was Ronodin going to do to her?

"I will leave you with your life, for I know he had taken a liking to you and you are of little threat to me now," Bracken said. His voice dripped with contempt, for Ronodin had a strong dislike of humans, but inside he was dizzy with relief. Kendra was safe! For now, at least. He went on, "But if we cross paths again and we are on opposing sides, know that I will kill you as I will kill those who stand beside you." He turned away, preparing to leave.

As appalling as it was to be bonded with Ronodin, Bracken felt the slightest appreciation for the dark unicorn's power. While before he could only detect thoughts and feelings through physical contact with someone, he could now sense every emotion radiating from Kendra in perfect clarity. He enjoyed the feel of her fear, which repulsed him, but he could also detect how much she cared for him, and a hint of … determination?

"Bracken," Kendra whispered hoarsely.

There was so much passion in that one word that it took even Ronodin off guard. Strength flowed into Bracken's spirit, reenergizing him.

"Bracken, don't do this."

Bracken took advantage of Ronodin's moment of unbalance to surge forward, knocking the dark unicorn aside. Control returned to him with a _thud_. There were a thousand things he ached to do – namely, somehow wake Brynn or at least make sure she was all right – but he knew he had only seconds and warning the others was a priority.

"Kendra-" he gasped.

Then, as quickly as it had come, control of his body left him in a rush. Ronodin was back in charge.

"You disgust me," Bracken growled to himself. Bracken had no doubt Ronodin was talking to him.

Again Bracken turned away, and this time neither Bracken nor Kendra made an attempt to stop him. Dark magic built up inside of him and he embraced it fully. Then, suddenly, the attic vanished and he stood at the edge of the pond surrounding the shrine to the Fairy Queen at Fablehaven.

As Bracken took in his new surroundings, Ronodin snarled, _Don't try _anything _like that again._

_ Why not? _Bracken asked wearily. _There's nothing you can do to me worse than what you've already done._

_ It's no longer about you, silly child, _Ronodin hissed. _If you fail to cooperate, I will take my anger out on your family… and perhaps that silly human girl you like so much._

_ No._ But even as he said it, images planted by Ronodin filled Bracken's mind: Brynn, lying on the floor, pale as death; Kendra, writing in pain as poison flowed through her body; and perhaps the worst of all, his sister Ophelia stabbed through her heart by the sword that was his second horn.

_Resistance is futile. Don't interfere, and your loved ones may live. Unless, of course, they are foolish enough to think they can stop me. _Ronodin chuckled without any real humor. _But first, I must return to the Fairy Realm. How I've missed it these past millennia._

Bracken shuddered. He wasn't sure what Ronodin planned to do in the Fairy Realm, but it couldn't be good. And yet they had no way to stop him. He was certainly in no condition to put up a fight, and his family wouldn't know anything was wrong. And even if they did know to worry, Ronodin had more or less threatened to kill them all.

Did they have any chance to stop him?

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>

Ah, another classic case of _author decides to wax philosophical and her thoughts don't come out coherently._ I hope you understood most of what I said in this chapter. I tried to convey that even though Ronodin is in control, Bracken can still feel everything as if he was the one making his body do those things.

Chronologically, I suppose this chapter should have come before the previous one, but I think it fits better here. More plot development in the next chapter, I promise!

As usual, all comments and critique are appreciated. Reviews make every author's day ^^


	5. Lies

**Chapter Five**

When Brynn returned to the Fairy Realm through the Hall of Portals, she was so distracted that she didn't notice at first her mother waiting impatiently. Her only thought was to get to the library so she could do some more research on the Memory Glass. She already had a few tomes in mind to start with: _Ancient Magical Artifacts _and _Spirits: A Memoir by the Great Wizard Illyd_. When she had first studied the history of the magical world she hadn't paid much attention to the Memory Glass or spirits; if they no longer existed, what was the point? But now she wished she had been more conscientious in her reading. She had no time to search the library for the proper book. She needed to find out exactly what had happened to the Memory Glass and soon.

"Brynn," the Fairy Queen said with an imperious air.

Brynn turned and saw her mother standing in the doorway to the Hall of Portals, arms crossed. She was instantly on alert. The Fairy Queen usually saved this attitude for when she lectured Bracken about getting caught at Living Mirage.

_Bracken._ The thought reminded her of the impending danger. She needed to keep this conversation short.

"Yes, Mother?" Brynn replied politely with a shallow curtsy. It was the most she could manage with her tunic, though she would have preferred a more respectful curtsy to pacify her mother.

"Bracken returned a short while ago with disturbing news," the Fairy Queen said coldly.

Brynn felt a variety of emotions at this statement. First, joy – Bracken had somehow overthrown Ronodin and returned to the Fairy Realm safely! But then, confusion – the last she had seen her brother, Ronodin had been very much in control and Bracken had been totally polluted by dark magic. Even if he _had_ managed to expel Ronodin, removing darkness was an entirely different matter and he couldn't have done so in the short time since he'd left the attic at Fablehaven. Confusion was followed by suspicion – it seemed most likely that Ronodin was still in Bracken's body, but had restored it to its normal appearance so he could access the Fairy Realm. But then how could he have fooled the Fairy Queen? Brynn had too many questions and not enough answers.

She became aware that the Fairy Queen was expecting a response of some sort. But what could she say? She didn't even know what news "Bracken" had brought. "What news?" she asked.

The Fairy Queen frowned. "Brynn, this is no time to feign innocence. I know you like to dabble in magic here and there, and in the past I have encouraged you to do so, for it is a skill worth knowing, but really, I must draw the line at you casting spells on other unicorns."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Mother," Brynn said honestly. She had never used her magic against someone else – at least, not in the way the Fairy Queen was implying. It was her most powerful weapon in battle, of course. "But there's something important I need to-"

"This exchange will be much more pleasant if you confess immediately," the Fairy Queen interrupted.

"I still don't know what you mean. Bracken has been-"

"_Brynn._"

Brynn winced as the Fairy Queen's words reverberated inside her mind. Clearly, her mother meant business, but about what Brynn wasn't sure.

"_Mother_," she said, her tone equally hard, "Bracken has been possessed by Ronodin's vengeful spirit."

"Really." Skepticism radiated from the Fairy Queen like heat from the sun, an emotion Brynn couldn't make sense of. Everything about her mother's reaction was out of character. What had happened to the fretful woman who had mere hours ago demanded Brynn go to the mortal world and heal Bracken?

The Fairy Queen went on, "Brynn, it alarms me that you would create such an outrageous tale to cover your wrongdoing."

"What have I done wrong?" Brynn cried, losing her composure. She hadn't done anything besides study in the library for the past several weeks, except for one visit to Fablehaven – on the Fairy Queen's orders.

"You have been studying the effects of magic on those who don't know it has been used against them correct?" the Fairy Queen asked.

"Yes," Brynn replied hesitantly. She believed that tactic had played an important role in certain wars years ago. But where was the Fairy Queen going with this?

"Bracken informed me that he collapsed as a result of a spell you placed on him before he left the Fairy Realm. He was really quite apologetic about it because he knows you like challenging yourself and there was no real harm done, but he doesn't feel comfortable about you using your powers in that way. Now, under different circumstances I would be quite proud of you, Brynn, because inducing sleep in a unicorn is a difficult feat, but really, do you think you could find a better way to experiment with this concept?"

Now the Fairy Queen was sounding like herself again, Brynn thought bitterly. She didn't want anything to happen to her precious son, no matter how little (if any) harm was intended, since she had him back for the first time in several hundred years. But there was one minor detail – surely the Fairy Queen knew Brynn would never do anything like that to Bracken.

"Mother, listen to me," Brynn pleaded. "Bracken has been possessed by Ronodin, that's what caused him to faint; you know I would never do something like that. I missed Bracken, too, these past centuries. Please focus on the greater threat."

"Honestly, this is absurd," the Fairy Queen snapped. "Ronodin has been dead for millennia. For goodness sake, you witnessed his demise yourself."

Brynn cringed. She could remember the bloody Battle of Forsaken Souls all to well. Ronodin had sought her out on the battlefield personally, furious about how she had used their mental link to expose his strategies. She had thought she was done for until the Fairy King had stepped in and fought Ronodin himself. Later, she had watched from the sidelines, nursing a gash in her arm that she didn't have the energy to heal, as her father had dispatched Ronodin.

"But he _didn't_ die," Brynn persisted. "I felt his spirit. I know it was him."

"Nonsense," the Fairy Queen said briskly. "It has been years. You probably mistook something else for him. Even you can make mistakes sometimes."

Brynn bristled at her mother's last remark. She _knew_ she wasn't perfect, no one was. But this wasn't about that. "I _know_ what Ronodin's mind feels like, Mother," she said quietly. "Or have you forgotten the role I played in the days leading up to the Battle of Forsaken Souls?"

"You were very brave, Brynn. But the fact remains, it is impossible for Ronodin to be alive, much less to have possessed Bracken," the Fairy Queen said with finality.

"But-" Brynn protested. How could the Fairy Queen reject the truth so quickly? She hadn't even been willing to consider that Brynn might have been right!

"The matter is closed," the Fairy Queen declared. "You may now go do as you like, but please, refrain from experimenting on other unicorns in the future. I will not punish you this time, but you may want to apologize to your brother ad some point."

Brynn refused to dignify that with a response. She wasn't being punished for something she didn't do – how absolutely splendid! And she had no desire to cross paths with her brother, who wasn't exactly her brother, at the moment. She and the Fairy Queen held each other's gazes for a second longer before realizing that the other had no intention of saying anything else and going their separate ways.

Brynn walked briskly down the corridor as if going to her chambers, but as soon as the Fairy Queen rounded a corner, she doubled back and headed for the library. She wasn't entirely sure why she was being so secretive. Her mother wouldn't usually care if she was reading up on the Memory Glass and spirits and whatnot. Of course, given her current mindset, there was no telling what the Fairy Queen's reaction would be if she found Brynn investigating such a topic.

She didn't pause as she passed under the golden archway at the entrance to the library, not even to inhale the scents of old paper and ink that permeated the room. Calling the royal library a _room_ was a bit of an understatement, of course, since it was really a vast network of chambers, each containing books and scrolls on a different topic. Brynn had designed the library herself, placing chambers holding similar subjects close together for the convenience of those who used it.

Often Brynn would enter the library with the intent of searching out a specific book but would become sidetracked when she noticed a different tome with an intriguing title. This would result in her spending hours among the thousands of volumes until suddenly the day had all but vanished. Today, however, she had no time to waste. Walking briskly past shelves full of books on ancient potions or the history of the Fairy Realm, Brynn didn't stop until she reached a little-used chamber full of the most ancient books in the library. It was here that she had first discovered Illyd's memoir, from which she had learned all she knew about spirits.

She took the book from where it sat on its shelf and sank into the chamber's lone armchair. Thumbing carefully through the delicate pages, she quickly found the section she was looking for. She squinted to decipher the words masked by a spindly script with elaborate flourishes. The passage read:

_Already Morisant's apprentice had shown great potential. Agad, but four centuries into his apprenticeship, did tackle the problem of rebellious spirits with great eagerness. It was he who thought to give the true spirit the opportunity to force the invading spirit out. This would, he reasoned, solve the problem without requiring much magic. Indeed, not much magic at all – Agad created the Glass with his own two hands. And yet there was something about the Glass that reflected the power within it and increased it greatly; as I held it I could feel waves of magic radiating from it with startling intensity, and as I gazed into it I could feel my own since of being slip away. 'Twas only the slightest strand of spirit that escaped me, but 'twas enough to make me wary. Agad had created an artifact of immense power._

_ The Memory Glass, as it was dubbed, proved quite useful. At long, long, last, we ousted__ the spirit of Odryllus from the body of the old king he was inhabiting and cast him into the Realm of the Dead. We restored many innocent victims of invasive spirits and left the spirits with a lesson they would not soon forget. It required much energy to open the Portal each time, but 'twas worth the effort._

_ But in the end the Glass proved too strong for its own good. My own apprentice believed he could conquer its power and I, fool that I was, allowed him to attempt his spells, though Agad spoke against it. Joelle was left little more than a shell when the Glass was finished with him. He still lived, barely, but showed no recognition of his colleagues, or even I, his mentor, and never used magic again. After this catastrophe I insisted Agad destroy the Memory Glass, though I knew it would grieve him to do so. More than once I have wondered if I should regret my decision, for 'twas truly a great work, but no more vengeful spirits remain, and no more innocents shall go mad for no reason other than gazing into the wrong mirror. It is for the best that the Glass is gone._

_ Though, as I pen these words and think back on those years, I cannot recall seeing the shards of the broken Glass…_

Brynn usually scoffed at that last sentence. It seemed to serve no purpose other than to intrigue the reader. But now as she read the words, her heart beat faster. It wasn't much to go on, but there was the slightest chance Tanugatoa was right and the Memory Glass still existed.

She scoured the small chamber for the next several hours. She would open a book, flip to a random page, and scan fervently, starting at even the mention of the word _glass_. It was the kind of reading she frowned upon, because really, how could one ever absorb any information that way, but she was on a deadline. Still, no other book so much as mentioned the Memory Glass, even in passing.

Eventually, she gave up. The library could give her no more information on that particular subject. She picked up a book she had skimmed earlier. Thought it contained nothing about the Memory Glass, it hinted that it may be able to shed some light on how Ronodin was still alive. _The Spirits of Unicorns_, it was entitled.

She read more slowly than before, taking in every word. Still, there was nothing she didn't already know. Unicorns hadn't come into existence until after the Realm of the Dead was created. No unicorn spirits lingered in the living world. And so on.

It was growing dark and servants were beginning to light the candles when Brynn came across a promising paragraph.

_But some, a small but vocal group, speculate that it may be possible for a unicorn to tie itself to this earth more permanently. It is theorized that this is somehow related to their horns and the power within them. The wizard Morisant believed that each unicorn's horn contains a tiny part of their spirit, which allows them to sense the location of the horns, even from a great distance. He hypothesized that if a unicorn transferred enough of their spirit into their horns, they could continue to exist even after they were supposedly killed. Of course, his theory is difficult to test, because even among unicorns, there are few powerful enough to attempt such magic._

"But apparently Ronodin was," Brynn mused aloud. She wondered who else was among the few. Her mother, obviously, and perhaps her father when he was in his prime. And since they were the two most powerful beings in the Realm, it seemed likely that their children would be capable as well. Because her father was still recovering, and may never regain his full strength, did that make her the second most powerful creature of light? It wasn't something she had considered before, but it was an appealing thought.

"Brynn," the Fairy Queen said coldly.

Brynn looked up from her book, startled. "Mother?"

"What are you reading?" the Fairy Queen asked. Her accusing tone implied that she already knew the answer.

Wordlessly Brynn handed over _The Spirits of Unicorns._

The Fairy Queen glanced at the title. "Brynn, regardless of what this book says, let me tell you now: Ronodin is dead, in spirit and body."

Brynn stood and stared the Fairy Queen straight in the eye. Too frustrated to speak, she thought crossly, _Why do you refuse to see the truth even when it is right before you?_

"Because there is nothing to see!" the Fairy Queen shouted.

Brynn recoiled as the words ripped across her mind like mental bars. The Fairy Queen _never_ lost her temper like this.

Then, in a quiet voice that was just as frightening, the Fairy Queen said, "Go to your chambers. I have nothing to say to you until you are willing to be sensible."

More out of shock than anything else, Brynn obeyed. She fled the library, brushing past the nervous-looking servant who had overhead their conversation. When she reached her chambers, she slammed the door behind her – just like the child the Fairy Queen was treating her as.

As soon as the door closed, she felt magical defenses click into place. Unbelieving, she strode to the door and put her hand on it. She yanked it away almost immediately. The magic imbued in the wood was painful to the touch. She had never seen the Fairy Queen use magic this powerful except on the battlefield. What had she done to deserve this?

Brynn threw herself onto her bed and buried her face in her pillow, willing herself not to cry. She hadn't cried in many years, not since the Demon King had supposedly killed her father. She had cried so much then that she had thought there were no tears left within her. Embarrassed by such an obvious display of emotion, she had resolved never to cry again. Even when Bracken had been captured at Living Mirage and the Fairy Queen had wept for hours, Brynn had just locked her feelings behind a thick door of outward indifference and retreated to her books. She had thought that by denying grief, she was escaping it altogether.

How wrong she was.

It seemed that all those years her eyes had remained dry and her face expressionless, her emotions had steadily built up on the inside, and now they were threatening to break free. Brynn struggled for a moment more, and then the dam shattered and tears welled up in her eyes.

As the tears spilled over, Brynn found she felt _liberated_. All this time she had kept her thoughts and feelings inside, confiding in no one, and now it felt like she was finally getting it out. It was like sharing a secret with a true friend, confessing all to a personal journal. She was no longer alone.

And so onto her pillow tears fell. They fell for Bracken, a prisoner in his mind; for the Fairy Queen, who still didn't know what was going on; for herself, trapped in her room and unable to help; and even for Kendra and Seth and all the others at Fablehaven, who were willing to make sacrifices for someone they hardly knew. She cried because even when she had given up they had still believed there was a chance; because though she had accepted that chance, she had failed to act on it in time; because now she was trapped, as much a prisoner as Bracken was; and because that probably wouldn't matter to the others, since they would never have been rendered helpless as she was. She cried because they could think of a way to save Bracken, without even needing her help. She was useless.

Eventually, however impossible it seemed, her silent sobs subsided. It felt it had been hours, perhaps even longer than she had grieved for her father. But instead of choosing to seal away her emotions for another several centuries, she felt like it might be good for her to cry every once in a while. It was as if she had been carrying a heavy load all her life, and now, for the first time, she was experiencing what it was like to walk unburdened. It was truly a marvelous experience for her.

If only it hadn't taken her brother being possessed by an evil spirit to trigger it.

Someone knocked sharply at her door.

Brynn sat up, instantly wary. Had the Fairy Queen come to yell at her again? She stood and dried her eyes, not wanting to appear weak. "You can come in," she called, her voice strangely hoarse. She cleared her throat as the person at the door entered her room.

"Ronodin," she greeted the body of her brother coolly. He looked no different than when she had last seen him at Fablehaven. She saw no evidence of the horrific transformation Kendra and Tanu had described. But that made sense: if he had walked into the Fairy Realm looking like a fallen unicorn or worse, he would have been apprehended immediately.

"Here only you know me as that, Brynn," Bracken reminded her.

To the untrained eye, he could almost pass for her brother, Brynn thought. He still seemed to be struggling with dialect, switching between how he had spoken millennia ago and what was appropriate now, but if you didn't notice the angry gleam in his eyes, you wouldn't know anything was wrong.

"So have you come to gloat?" Brynn asked. She was remarkably calm, considering she was facing her greatest enemy.

"Partially, yes," Bracken answered. "I also wished to see how your feeble attempts at resistance were progressing. I see you were ejected from your library."

This reminded Brynn of one of the things that had spurred her crying jag. "What did you do to the Fairy Queen?" she challenged.

"I did absolutely nothing," Bracken said innocently. "Even I can hold no power over the Fairy Queen."

Brynn refused to be deterred. "She's not herself. You must have bewitched her somehow."

"The Fairy Queen is fiercely protective of her only son since the battle on Shoreless Isle. I needed only _hint_ you had done something to her precious son to turn her against you," Bracken drawled in a malicious tone that Brynn never would have imagined him using. He continued, "See, no need for magic or trickery. They say it's only human nature to be manipulated in such a way, but it's true for all manner of creatures. We are all fiercely protective of our young. With a few notable exceptions, of course. You should have listened to me, Brynn."

Brynn raised her eyebrows as he brought the conversation around to her. What advice from her former teacher should she have heeded?

"If you had immersed yourself in your spells and shunned all around you, you never would have made yourself vulnerable to an event like this." Seeing that Brynn was still confused, Bracken explained coldly, "If you had never allowed yourself to love, your brother's death would not cut you so deeply."

Brynn's blood turned to ice in her veins and pressure built behind her eyes. She prayed she wouldn't start crying in front of him. In a voice that mimicked the Fairy Queen's when she had sent her to her room, she said, "Don't say that."

"Pardon?" Bracken asked lightly.

"Bracken is _not_ dead," Brynn said quietly but resolutely.

Bracken laughed once, startling her. It wasn't an _Oh-you're-so-funny_ laugh, of course, but an _I-can't-believe-you're-so-foolish_ disbelieving chuckle.

"Ah, you remind me of him," Bracken sighed.

"What?"

"You are so similar to your dear brother," Bracken said. "You have both deluded yourselves into thinking you have a chance."

You _have_, Brynn noted. Present tense. "Is he there with you – in his mind?" she asked suddenly.

Now it was Bracken's turn to look confused. "What do you mean?"

"His spirit – it must still be there." Now Brynn grew more eager. "Is he still aware?" Yes! It all made sense. Particularly what Kendra had said about Ronodin's lapse in control – Bracken was resisting.

"I don't know what you mean," Bracken said briskly. But in Bracken's body, Ronodin couldn't guard his emotions well enough: Brynn knew her brother inside and out. To her, the flash of worry in his eyes was quite visible.

"Bracken, don't worry," Brynn said, hoping he could hear her. "Bracken, we're going to help you."

Bracken frowned briefly, almost as if he had a headache. Then, suddenly, he lashed out at Brynn with his fist, though they still stood a good five feet apart. His fist fell a yard short, but what physical force did not magic did; Brynn jerked sideways, her knee colliding painfully with the leg of her desk and her head smacking into the floor when she fell. Bracken turned and stormed out, slamming the door behind him. The magical barriers snapped back into place.

When he was gone, Brynn tried to stand but dizziness swamped her and she careened sideways again. So instead she pulled herself into a sitting position and waiting for the nauseous feeling to pass. While she sat, she considered her options.

She couldn't stay in the Fairy Realm, that much was certain. Not with Bracken here. Besides, there wasn't anything left to be learned from the library; she wouldn't be surprised if the Fairy Queen was barring off the ancient books right now. But could she return to Fablehaven? She didn't want to impose on them and she didn't know them nearly as well as Bracken did. But it would be useful to pool information. Perhaps the Knights of the Dawn had discovered something.

Thinking of the human Knights reminded her of something else – the astrids. The astrid Knights of the Dawn were an honor guard for her family. The Fairy Queen had dismissed them after the Demon King had supposedly killed the Fairy King. Before the Battle on Shoreless Isle, though, Kendra had restored the astrids to their true form and the Fairy Queen had insisted on creating hidden passageways throughout the palace so the astrids could get into the rooms in more ways than one if need be. It was an emergency precaution Brynn didn't think was necessary, but she had humored her mother and installed an entrance in her chambers. She could use it to get out!

Brynn stood and, when the world didn't spin around her, walked carefully to her dressing room. In the corner beside the wardrobe, she crouched and put her hand on the wall. She focused her energy on the wall, and a section just large enough for a grown man to crawl through vanished. But as she leaned forward, an unseen force blocked her way.

She bit back a curse. The Fairy Queen had sealed this off, too!

Someone knocked at the door.

"Go away, Ronodin," Brynn called angrily.

"Brynn? Are you all right?" asked a voice that was certainly not Bracken's.

Brynn straightened and hurried to the door. "Ophelia!" she cried.

"Can I come in?" the second daughter of the Fairy Queen asked.

"Yes, of course," Brynn replied.

She felt the magical defenses evaporate as her sister turned the knob and entered the room. Ophelia gently shut the door (reactivating the barriers) and sat down on the bed, her skirts fanning perfectly around her. She patted the mattress, indicating Brynn should sit next to her. Brynn obliged.

"What happened?" Ophelia asked, her musical voice laced with worry.

Rather than answer verbally, Brynn took her sister's hand and conveyed the events mentally, starting with the Fairy Queen telling her to go to Fablehaven. Ophelia cringed when Brynn showed her what had happened when she reached into Bracken's mind and frowned as Brynn recounted the Fairy Queen evicting her from the library. Brynn concluded with her meeting with Bracken just a few minutes ago. Ophelia sat quietly for several long moments after she finished, her expression thoughtful.

Finally, Brynn could take the silence no longer. "Do you believe me?" she asked hesitantly. She wasn't sure she could take another rejection.

Ophelia snapped out of her reverie. "What? Oh, yes. of course I do, Sister. Your explanation fits everything perfectly."

Brynn felt a surge of joy. Resisting the urge to hug her sister, she let her happiness flow across their mental link.

"As soon as Bracken returned I thought something was different about him, but I couldn't place it," Ophelia said. "Then, when Mother told me she intended to punish you for bewitching Bracken, I knew something was very wrong. You would never do something like that, especially not to him. Knowing what you said about Ronodin – that sounds exactly like something he would do."

"What should we do?" Brynn asked, relieved to have an ally at last.

"You need to leave the Fairy Realm immediately," Ophelia decided. "Bring what information you have to the humans at Fablehaven. Perhaps they will have discovered something useful. If not, aid them in their search for knowledge. You may actually find the Memory Glass."

"And you?"

"I will help you escape, but then I will remain here. I will detain Ronodin, follow him if I must. If you do actually locate the Glass, then we will know where he is and can use it as soon as possible."

"Can you remove the defenses on the door?" Brynn asked. "Such spells are strong against the one they are meant to contain, but relatively harmless against others."

Ophelia shook her head. "Mother has posted astrid guars at either end of the corridor. They mean well, but they would report you to Mother if you attempted to leave."

"The astrids' escape tunnel, then," Brynn suggested. "Few use the tunnels and I will likely not be noticed."

Ophelia considered this for a moment before nodding. "Show me the entrance and I shall break the spell," she said.

Brynn led her to the corner of her dressing room. Ophelia stood before the indicated patch of wall and pulled her second horn from her belt, which transformed into a golden flute. She held the instrument to her lips and played a high, pure note, so high-pitched human ears wouldn't have detected it. Brynn winced and covered her ears as the intensity of the note grew. The air around the tunnel entrance seemed to bend and fold until finally the magical barrier shattered.

Brynn removed her hands from her ears. "Thank you," she murmured.

"Go quickly," Ophelia urged. "She will soon notice the barrier has been destroyed. But first-" From her pocket she pulled a tiny silver flute, no more than six inches long, and held it out to Brynn.

"I don't play," Brynn said, confused.

"You will, when the time is right. It may prove useful." Ophelia pressed the flute into her sister's hand until Brynn took it uncertainly. "Now leave."

Brynn checked to ensure she had her horn (it was still strapped to her waist, as she was wearing the same outfit she had worn to Fablehaven) before dropping to her hands and knees and entering the tunnel. As she crawled into the darkness, she heard Ophelia's voiced echoing after her: "Good luck!"

_Good luck. _Goodness knows, she was going to need it.

**Author's Note:**

About two thirds of the way through this chapter, I realized that it might be kind of boring for someone interested in Fablehaven fanfiction to read a chapter entirely from the point of view of a character I made up. Oh well. The next chapter will be from Kendra's point of view, I promise!


	6. 72 Hours

**Chapter Six**

Three days.

It had been three days since Kendra's birthday, three days since that eventful dinner, three days since life at Fablehaven had turned upside-down.

Three days since Bracken had been possessed by Ronodin. Only four remained for them to find the Memory Glass and attempt to save him.

It had been approximately two and a half days since Brynn had shown up at the back door, dressed in the same clothes she had been wearing when she left Fablehaven but looking much the worse for wear. Her hair was tangled, her face tear-streaked, her tunic rumpled and her leggings torn. In her fist she had clutched a tiny silver flute, which gleamed in the early-morning sun.

"I am no longer welcome in my own home. May I please say here?" Brynn had asked simply.

Grandma Sorenson had said yes, of course, and soon Brynn was sitting at the kitchen table wearing some of Mom's old clothes with a plate of syrup-drenched pancakes before her. Soon after breakfast she had joined the search for even a hint of the whereabouts of the Memory Glass.

It had been about two days since Warren and Seth had left to follow up on a lead from one of Warren's colleagues. It had been a day and a half since they had called to say that the lead was a dud but that they were planning to meet up with an old friend of Coulter's.

So while everyone else was out trying to find information on the Memory Glass, where was Kendra? No, she wasn't jetting around the country with Warren, visiting Agad at Living Mirage with Vanessa and Mara, or interrogating the Sphinx with Tanu and Trask. She was just sitting on the couch watching T.V. with her dad for lack of anything better to do.

She hadn't really been paying attention to the show that was on, but she raised her eyebrows when Dad suddenly muted the television and turned to face her.

He sighed, seeming resigned to whatever he was about to do, and said, "So, Kendra, about this boy…"

"Dad," Kendra said, a blush building in her cheeks. "Are we seriously having this discussion? Now?"

"Well, why not?" Dad asked. He tugged at his shirt collar, seeming to feel just as awkward about this as Kendra was.

"Because - oh, I can't believe I even have to _say_ this," Kendra groaned. "Because Bracken's been possessed by Ronodin and we're trying to find a magical artifact to save him and you want to have a _boyfriend talk_ with me?"

"Well, it seems to me that you're getting pretty serious about him and it's time. Really, I'm surprised we haven't had to talk about this in some way already. I mean, you're sixteen," Dad said.

"_Dad!_" Kendra exclaimed. "I've seen him _once_ since everything that happened last spring. _Once_."

"Come on, Kendra, anyone could see that you two were tight when you came to Living Mirage after the battle," Dad teased. Then his tone turned serious. "But you're willing to go on a dangerous mission to save him from an evil spirit. That counts as serious in my book."

"I like him, okay?" Kendra snapped. She hoped this would be enough to get him to shut up.

But alas, it was not so. "How much do you like him?" Dad pressed.

"_Dad!_"

"Hey, I'm a dad, I need to know these things," Dad said.

Kendra put her head in her hands. "Oh, I don't know," she sighed. "I really liked him last spring, when we were saving the world and everything. But after the shrine at Fablehaven was restored he went back to the Fairy Realm and I didn't see him until a couple of days ago. And even then it was only for five minutes, before it was all… you know." She raised her head and met her father's curious gaze. "I don't know what I'm supposed to feel. And it feels _wrong_ to be talking about something like this when we're in the middle of a crisis."

"That'll do, I suppose," Dad said. He un-muted the T.V. and turned his attention back to the screen.

Kendra stared at the T.V. for a few minutes before realizing she just couldn't watch mindless television. She needed to be _doing_ something. She trudged upstairs, planning to reread one of the past caretakers' journals. It seemed highly unlikely that they would contain anything on the Memory Glass, but it would probably be more informative than whatever her dad was watching.

She had just lit an umite candle and was about to settle down with Patton Burgess's Journal of Secrets when her dad called, "Hey, Kendra, come see this!"  
>Kendra returned to the family room and saw that he had switched to the history channel. He was watching a show about a man who owned a pawn shop in Los Angeles and bought old and interesting items. At the moment, the owner of the shop was examining a rifle from the Civil War. It was a favorite of his and Seth's, but Kendra didn't know what they saw in it.<p>

"Why are we watching this?" Kendra asked.

"Here, look," Dad said. He rewound the show, one of the many benefits of having a DVR, which he had somehow managed to slip past Grandpa Sorenson. When he pressed play, a middle-aged man in a baseball cap was facing the camera.

The man was saying, "…to try to sell an old mirror I've got. I found it at an estate sale a few weeks ago and I was going to give it to my wife for her birthday, but it looks kind of old and if that frame is really gold I could make some good money off of it."

Kendra still didn't see what he meant. "What's your point?"

"Keep watching," Dad instructed.

The camera switched to a view of the owner of the pawn shop behind the counter and the man in the baseball cap in front of it. The mirror – a small, circular piece of glass in a round, gold frame – sat on the counter between them.

"So what is this?" asked the owner of the shop.

The man in the baseball cap shrugged. "It's just a mirror I found at an estate sale. I think the frame might be gold."

The man who owned the shop – Rob, Kendra finally remembered, his name was Rob – picked up the mirror. It looked even smaller in his large hands. "It might be. If this is solid gold, it could be worth a ton. Mind if I ask how much you paid for it?"

"It was a real bargain – fifty dollars," said the man in the baseball cap proudly. "How much do you think it's worth?"

"I don't know, but there's a buddy of mine who specializes in antiques like this. I'll give him a call and he can come down and check it out," Rob suggested. "Okay?"

"Sure," agreed the man in the cap.

The camera cut to a close-up of the mirror. Kendra gasped. Around the edge of the frame, tiny words were engraved. She caught a brief snatch of text – _know thy true – _before the show switched to a commercial and the mirror vanished from sight.

"What is it?" Dad asked.

"That mirror – it had writing on it," Kendra explained. "A fairy language, I'm sure of it. I'm getting better at sensing these things."

"I thought – I mean, it's a tiny chance, but you guys are looking for a mirror, and when I saw this I thought it might be that Memory Glass."

"Brynn will know," Kendra realized. "Brynn! _Brynn!_" she hollered upstairs.

Within moments, Bracken's eldest sister stood beside them, still clutching the journal she had been reading. "You discovered something?" she asked, eager in her own subdued manner.

Kendra nodded, already rewinding the TV to the shot of the mirror. She paused as Rob tilted it toward the camera. Now she could read more: _into this Glass, thou shall see…_

Brynn inhaled sharply. "This is a most ancient form of Silvian. Given time, I could translate it, but Kendra, surely you interpret intuitively?"

"Yes," Kendra answered. She read from the mirror, "'Gaze into this Glass, thou shall see they face and know' – oh, shoot, it's cut off." She fiddled with the remote, rewinding and fast-forwarding, trying to get the best angle. She attempted to piece the fragmented images together. "'As thee gaze into this Glass, thou shall know they' – no, '_see_ thy face and know thy true self.' Brynn! Do you think this is it?"

"Almost certainly," Brynn said confidently. "See this star?" She traced a grainy design on the back of the mirror with her finger. "This is a symbol of Agad's design. It adorns the door to the new demon prison as well as several of his lesser works."

"We need to get it. How soon do you think we can get a flight to L.A.?" Kendra wondered.

"Your grandfather can probably work something out," Brynn suggested. "I believe he is in his study."

"Right. Thanks." Kendra was halfway to the stairs before she remembered something. "Wait – what happened to the mirror? Did Rob buy it? Dad?"

No answer.

Hesitantly, Kendra turned and reentered the family room. Her dad was looking at her strangely, almost as if he were… angry. "Dad?"

"How kind of you to remember me," Dad said, his voice oddly cold.

"Dad?" Kendra repeated, confused.

Dad's voice took on a hard, sarcastic tone. "Oh, no consideration for your mother or me when you're planning on flying cross-country to find something to save your _boyfriend_. Don't bother asking for permission. Just go ahead and assume we're all right with this."

Kendra failed to notice Brynn's subtle shake of her head. "I don't know what your problem is, but this really isn't the time," she said exasperatedly. "Did Rob by the mirror or not?"

Dad stood up and tossed the remote angrily on the couch. "Why don't you find out for yourself? You never needed my help when you were running around, risking your neck with the Knights of the Dawn. Why don't we just go back to how things were when my children were practically _killed_ on a day-to-day basis and I was blissfully unaware?"

Kendra recalled how convenient it had been back then, particularly after the Society of the Evening Star had abducted Mom and Dad. She decided it would be best not to mention this. Instead, she protested, "It wasn't like we had a choice! Twice we couldn't do anything _besides_ risk our lives because no one else could save the preserve. Another time – the shadow plague just _happened_; it wasn't like we _volunteered_ for it. And don't you _dare_ say we could have abandoned the preserve. You just can't do that with a clean conscience."

"Okay, fine, you were forced into extreme circumstances," Dad conceded. "I get that. But there's no sword hanging over your head now. No demon prison about to be opened." He swallowed and his voice was softer when he spoke again. "The world won't end if you don't save Bracken, Kendra."

Kendra took a deep breath and counted slowly to twenty. She didn't want to lose her temper; then he would never let her go to Los Angeles.

But before Kendra could say anything, Brynn answered Dad's last statement. She spoke politely, but her voice was icy cold. "I beg to differ, Scott."

"Excuse me?" Dad asked bluntly. He apparently didn't feel the need to be courteous.

"As I am sure you are aware, Bracken is the Prince of the Fairy Realm, the son of the Fairy Queen herself," Brynn stated. "Let us assume for a moment, then, that Ronodin gains full possession of my brother's body and Bracken's spirit is irretrievable. The Fairy Queen will be disconsolate, making it quite easy for Ronodin to march in with an army of demons and other creatures of darkness and take over or, heaven forbid, destroy the Fairy Realm. So while it may not be the end of the world for _you_, ignorant mortal, it would, in fact, be the end of the world for all creatures of light." By the end of her speech, Brynn, too, had lost the illusion of cordiality.

Dad stared at Brynn, his mouth hanging open, for a moment before regaining his composure. When he spoke again, he sounded much less angry. "I wasn't trying to downplay the importance of saving Bracken," he hastily explained.

From the look on Brynn's face, Kendra guessed she would have snorted had she been less well brought-up. Kendra barely managed to withhold a similar reaction herself.

Dad went on, "I'm certainly not trying to say we _shouldn't_ go investigate this. Rob didn't by the mirror, by the way. It turns out it is pure gold and they couldn't settle on a price. But I just meant that Kendra should _not_ assume that she can do whatever she wants without asking for permission."

Kendra sighed and rolled her eyes. "Fine. Dad, can I go to L.A. and look for the Memory Glass with Brynn?"

He gave her a pointed look. "That's not the tone I would use if I were asking a favor."

"Dad, seriously?" Kendra groaned.

Dad said nothing.

Resisting the urge to stick out her tongue at him, Kendra made an attempt at a normal tone of voice. "Dad, may I please go to L.A. with Brynn to look for the Memory Glass?"

"Much better," Dad said. "But the answer is still no."

"What?" Kendra shouted, unbelieving. "You can't say no to something like this!"

"I just did," said Dad. "I am your legal guardian and it is my right to do so."

"But why?" Kendra cried. Angry tears welled up in her eyes. A small part of her realized she was whining, but the rest of her ignored it. He couldn't just stop her from trying to save Bracken. That was wrong on so many levels.

"You've had a lot of freedom in the past few years, but you need to remember that your mom and I are still in charge. We don't want you to get hurt. We've been thinking about removing ourselves from the mythical world altogether."

Kendra gasped. She simply couldn't imagine life without Fablehaven, with or without Bracken. She had become part of this world two years ago, and now that she was fairykind, nothing could veil her eyes from magical creatures. There was no escaping it. "No!" she shrieked. Tears flowed freely down her cheeks now.

"You're not acting like the kind of mature person I would let fly to Los Angeles without and adult anyway," Dad pointed out.

Kendra couldn't believe he was playing the maturity card _now_. That was cheating – he'd gotten her angry and he had _known_ she would lose her temper with him. Rather than stay and get herself into deeper trouble, she fled to her bedroom, sobbing openly.

When she reached the top of the attic stairs, she threw open her bedroom door and promptly tripped over some toy Seth had left on the ground. She kicked it away in disgust. Her stupid brother couldn't even clean up after himself and _he_ got to go adventuring with Warren while she was stuck at home. She dragged herself to her bed and collapsed on top of it, crying into her pillow.

But before too long her sobs subsided as reality began to sink in. Dad wasn't going to let her go to L.A. Why he had chosen such an important time to reestablish his authority she didn't know, but crying wasn't going to do anything about it. When Grandpa had told Seth he couldn't come to Wyrmroost with them last winter, had he sulked? No, of course not! Almost immediately he had begun making plans to stow away in the knapsack. Of course, she had no extra-dimensional storage device to hide in, but she could adapt. Quickly she grabbed a backpack and filled it with clothes and anything else she might need. Within minutes, she was ready to leave.

Almost. She tore a piece of paper out of a mostly unused notebook and took a pencil from her desk. She stared at the blank sheet for a long time, thinking. There was so much and yet not enough to say. But nothing she could write would make him understand. Finally, with a shaking hand, she wrote, _Dad, I'm sorry. I have to go. I love you. Kendra._

Someone knocked at the door. Kendra hastily kicked the backpack under her bed and shoved the note in one of the desk drawers. When all the evidence of her planned escape was hidden she called, "Come in."

Elise, the one Knight not currently on a mission, entered. She scanned the room, eyes lingering on the suspicious bulge not entirely concealed by the bed before locking onto Kendra's own, which were still wet from crying.

"Hey, Elise, what's up?" Kendra asked, trying (and probably failing) to sound nonchalant.

"Your grandfather asked Brynn and I to go to Los Angeles and investigate the mirror you saw on that T.V. show," Elise said.

Kendra waited, but Elise didn't elaborate. "And?" she finally asked.

Elise seemed perplexed by Kendra's reaction. "The first flight we could book is for 6:45 tomorrow morning. We'll be leaving for the airport at three. You should start packing."

Kendra frowned. "But what about my dad?" There was no way he had given in that easily.

"What about your dad?"

"I thought he didn't want me to go to L.A." _That_ was an understatement.

Elise shrugged. "He seemed fine with it to me."

"_Fine with it_?" Kendra repeated incredulously.

"Don't you want to go? We assumed you would, because, you know, Bracken and everything, but if you don't-"

Kendra cut her off, a blush already rising in her cheeks. Was her crush on him that obvious? "Of course I want to go!" she exclaimed. "I just thought Dad was against it, that's all."

"Well, be packed and ready. Your grandfather says you should think about going to bed soon, since we have an early day ahead of us."

"I will," Kendra promised. Her fingers played with the handle on the desk drawer behind her.

Elise left, saving Kendra from further awkwardness. As soon as the Knight was gone, Kendra turned to the drawer and pulled out her note. She read and reread it you, recalling her conversation with Dad as she did so. Then she tossed the note on the table and strode to the door.

"Brynn!" she called.

"Kendra?" Brynn's voice echoed faintly up the stairwell.

Kendra bounded down the stairs and into the guest room where Bracken's sister was staying. When she entered, Brynn was sitting on the bed, the silver flute in her hands. This brought Kendra up short, momentarily distracting her from what she meant to say. Brynn had never explained what the flute was for.

"Do you play?" she asked.

"No, I was just examining it." Brynn set the flute aside. "Did you want something?"

"Did you do something to my dad to make him let me go?" Kendra asked bluntly.

Brynn met her gaze evenly. "I don't know what you mean. Your father came to your grandfather's study and said that he had changed his mind."

If she were talking to anyone else, Kendra would have expected to see a playful air of false innocence accompanied by a glance to the ceiling or floor to show her they were kidding. But Brynn spoke with such sincerity that Kendra nearly believed her.

Nearly.

But whether or not Brynn had magically caused it, Dad's change of mind was quite convenient. In the morning they would leave for Los Angeles to look for the Memory Glass. If they could somehow get it from the man in the baseball cap they had seen on T.V., they might have a chance.

For the first time in three days, Kendra actually felt like she was doing something to save Bracken.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>

This chapter is dedicated to my dad and sister, because now there are not only three songs that I think of Fablehaven when I hear, but there is now also a T.V. show I think of Fablehaven when I see, and they watch it frequently. Did I rip off a certain show on the history channel when Kendra and her dad were watching television? Maybe… If anyone knows what show it was based off of they get brownie points!

Was it just too convenient that they happened to see the Memory Glass advertised on T.V.? Perhaps. The excuses I have come up with for this is something similar happened in _This Book is Not Good For You_ by Pseudonymous Bosch and that the hunt for the mirror isn't the main plot. This goes beyond rescuing Bracken from Ronodin! Nevertheless, I apologize if you found this chapter lame in any way.

As usual, all comments and critique (reviews, too) are appreciated!


	7. A Wild Goose Chase

**Chapter Seven**

Kendra emerged from the airport and squinted in the bright sunlight, hardly able to believe that it was early autumn back home. Even at eight in the morning, it was warm enough for Kendra to be comfortable in short sleeves. Beside her, Brynn cringed away from the harsh noises and smells of the city.

Kendra had forgotten this was the unicorn's first venture into modern-day society. "Sorry, I know it's disorienting," she whispered.

Brynn shook her head. "It's not that," she said. "Not that alone, at least. I could probably adapt to the noise and bustle. But there is a profound lack of positive feeling."

"Why do you say that?" Elise asked.

"Most unicorns are able to detect emotions to a certain extent," Brynn explained. "We have to be fairly close to someone to get an exact feel for them, but a heavy aura of negativity hangs over this area."

Kendra nodded, remembering how Bracken had sort of read Seth's mind when the two first met. Apparently Brynn could do a similar thing, but on a larger scale.

"Bracken told me human society has fallen far, but I never imagined it would be like this," Brynn sighed. "All the more reason to keep our business here short."

"Definitely," Kendra agreed vehemently. Not that she had a problem with the atmosphere; it was no worse than New York City, which she had visited on occasion. She just wanted to find the Memory Glass and kick Ronodin out of Bracken's body so everything could go back to normal.

"Do we know how to get to the pawn store we saw on television?" Brynn asked.

"Pawn shop," Kendra corrected.

"Yes, but I had a better idea," Elise answered. "On a whim, I searched for that particular episode of that show on the internet. From there I found the name of the man who had the mirror: Mark Harrison. After searching his name, I discovered a link to his blog, where, sure enough, he wrote about his appearance on T.V. I skimmed the rest of the website and uncovered his street address. I printed out a map. It's not far from here, about twenty minutes by car."

Kendra and Brynn gaped at her.

"What?" Elise asked.

"I can't believe you went through all that trouble. I never would have thought of that," Kendra said.

"You learn some useful things after a few years with the Knights of the Dawn," Elise said with a grin.

"Should we rent a car?" suggested Kendra.

"Too much hassle," Elise said. "We're not planning to stay here much more than a day anyway. Our best bet is to hail a taxi."

Kendra glanced around but spotted none of the trademark yellow cars. "First we've got to find one."

"It's a bit early yet. Besides, we don't want to get on Harrison's bad side by showing up on his doorstep at the crack of dawn," Elise pointed out.

Kendra sighed. Much as she hated to waste any of their remaining three-and-a-half days, she had to admit Elise was right. There was no point in irritating the man who was their only chance to save Bracken.

"Do you think we could find something to eat?" Brynn asked.

"Yeah, I'm starving," Kendra agreed. "And since we have to wait anyway…"

"We should be able to find something," Elise said. Turning she walked back into the airport. She returned within moments, bearing a map of the city.

With Elise's guidance, they tracked down a small café. Kendra tried to distract herself by encouraging Brynn to try different food. Bracken's sister grimaced at the taste of coffee, but found the tea palatable. She flat-out refused to try the bacon. This puzzled Kendra, because Bracken had no issue eating meat, but she supposed unicorns could have personal preferences just like humans. She instead persuaded Brynn to try some hash browns. Kendra and Elise stifled giggles as Elise presented a packet of hot sauce. Brynn sampled it warily, gasped, and swallowed the rest of her tea in one gulp. She could only glare at them for a few moments before joining in the laughter.

Breakfast lightened the mood a little, but as they finished up and were waiting for the check, Kendra found herself glancing at her watch every few seconds. Time was crawling slowly, but at the same time, every second that ticked away was one second less toward the one-week deadline. She felt as if the waitress was mocking them as she slowly ambled toward them, stopping at other tables on the way. Fortunately, they were paying in cash. Kendra thought she might have gone insane if they had to wait any longer.

When they finally returned to the sunny streets of Los Angeles, Kendra looked at her watch again and sighed. It wasn't even nine in the morning.

Her dismay quickly changed to anger and frustration. "I don't care if this Harrison guy likes to sleep in!" she cried. "Every second we spend _waiting_ so we can be _courteous_ is another second that Bracken could be losing control to Ronodin. Forget courtesy. Let's find a cab, get to this guy's house, grab the stupid Memory Glass, and get out of here."

"It is possible that this Mark Harrison could be awake by now," Brynn said.

"Yeah, maybe he has to work or something," Kendra said, growing excited. "In fact, we should hurry, in case he's already left."

"There was nothing on his blog to imply that-" Elise began. She broke off when she saw Kendra's pleading face. She sighed. "Fine, I give up. Let's go find a taxi."

* * *

><p>Approximately twelve hours after Kendra, Elise, and Brynn set out to find Mark Harrison at last, Seth was boarding what felt like the millionth plane he had been on in four days. Apparently Warren knew of several people who specialized in magical artifacts. Of course, it would have been horribly inconvenient for these specialists to live close together. They had flown to Houston, to Chicago, and to Orlando, all of which had proven to be dead ends. But dead ends certainly weren't news to them anymore. Even Kendra and the others had struck out in Lose Angeles, which had led Seth and Warren to where they were now.<p>

Kendra had relayed the details of what had happened in L.A. via Elise's cell phone. Apparently the T.V. show had been filmed several months ago and Mark Harrison had sold the mirror since then to an antiques dealer. He had been unwilling to say how much he had gotten for it, but after some persuasion from Brynn (whether magical or otherwise the unicorn hadn't said) he had disclosed the name of the dealer. A few minutes on the internet had led Elise to an address in Minnesota. Thus the plan was to meet up with the others in St. Paul and then track down a Meredith Denton. Though no one said it aloud, Seth knew they were all hoping this wasn't a dead end, too.

Seth cringed, remembering the barely concealed anguish in his sister's voice on the phone. She seemed to be really torn up about this whole thing with Bracken and Ronodin. He rolled his eyes at that; Bracken was just a boy, and she would get over him eventually, whether they succeeded in their mission or not. Of course, he himself remembered Bracken as a good friend from the events of the previous spring. He would love to see the unicorn again (unpossessed, of course), but if Kendra was going to start _dating_ him or something, that wasn't a situation he wanted to get involved in. Like most of their adventures in the past, he was here simply because there was no other choice.

As the seatbelt sign turned on overhead and the flight attendants rushed around performing the last pre-flight preparations, Seth remarked to Warren, "You know, if we had traveled using the same names every time, we would have gotten a zillion frequent flier miles."

"Yes, and we would have made it absurdly easy for our enemies to track our every move and set up an ambush," Warren pointed out.

"Yeah, but this time we're not up against the Society, just some crazy dark unicorn," Seth reminded him. "That doesn't strike me as the sort of thing Ronodin would do."

A flight attendant paused in front of their seats, insuring that the overhead luggage was properly stored. Warren motioned for Seth to lower his voice.

"In my experience, it's better to be safe than sorry," Warren whispered. "The one time you let your guard down, the bad guys come out of nowhere and kill you before you even know what's happening. Sometimes you can fight your way out of a situation like that, but sometimes you can't. And when you can't, there are no second changes."

Seth gulped. He hadn't thought of it that way.

Warren softened his tone. "Regardless, it's dangerous to make assumptions like that. We already know that Ronodin can change his appearance – who's to say he's not on this plane with us?"

Seth glanced around involuntarily. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he turned back to Warren and replied, "Okay, point taken. But _my_ point is, if I had just possessed the son of the Fairy Queen, I wouldn't be spending my time chasing down a couple of humans. Since Brynn said the Fairy Queen doesn't believe 'Bracken' is really Ronodin, I would try to make sure she _keeps_ not believing."

"That sounds plausible, but we have no way of knowing if that's really his agenda," Warren said. He slammed the armrest of his chair angrily, startling Seth. "Things were so much easier when we were fighting the Society," he growled.

Seth shot him a look that said _Are__ you __serious?_ All he could think of was almost dying in the grove with the revenant, almost dying during the shadow plague, almost dying at Wyrmroost, and, oh yeah, almost dying while fighting the demon horde on Shoreless Isle. This time, they had only flown around the country so far. Maybe they were remembering different Societies.

Seeing his look, Warren conceded, "Okay, maybe not in that way. What I mean is, at least we knew what their plan was: open the demon prison, destroy the world. But this dark unicorn… We have no idea what his goal is in all of this. I'd never even heard of a corrupted unicorn until Bracken's sister mentioned him."

"Me neither," Seth said. He considered what Warren had said about not knowing Ronodin's motivations. "Why do you take control of the son of the Fairy Queen?" he mused. "So you can butter the Queen up and get her under your thumb."

"Why do you want power over the Fairy Queen? So you can rule the Fairy Realm," Warren suggested.

"But what would a dark unicorn want with a world of light?" Seth asked. But even as he said it, the answer came to him, and he said the next words as Warren did.

"To destroy it."

* * *

><p>When he emerged from the airport, Seth immediately noticed Elise and Brynn standing together on the otherwise empty sidewalk. He barely had time to worry about not seeing his sister before he was suddenly trapped in a bear hug.<p>

"Jeez, Kendra, we've only been gone for three days," he said when she released him.

"Four days," she corrected. "And there's something about these life-and-death missions that makes it really hard to be separated from you, you know?"

"Yeah, I guess," Seth said, made uncomfortable by her grim attitude. "It hasn't really been life-and-death so far, though."

"Yes, but it will be if we don't get a move on," Elise interjected.

"I would prefer not to cut it too close to our deadline," Brynn said. "Remember, we will also have to track down Bracken so we can actually use the Memory Glass, which may prove more difficult than finding it in the first place."

That thought sobered everyone immediately.

From the airport they took a cab to a train station. After a series of train rides, bus rides, and one more cab ride, they arrived at a small, dingy-looking building. It was the sort of place Seth normally would have walked past without a second glance.

"Sure you want to get out here?" the cabbie asked. "You look like a respectable bunch, and this isn't really a respectable neighborhood, if you know what I mean."

Warren's hand went to his backpack, where Seth knew their weapons, Vasilis and Warren's sword from Lost Mesa, were stored.

"We'll be fine," Elise assured the cabbie. She paid him and they exited the taxi.

The group stood in front of the building before going in. The faded, peeling sign proclaimed that it sold "the best antiques around!" Seth didn't doubt that, considering the various states of disrepair the buildings around them were in. Being the best of anything in this small town wouldn't be difficult.

Kendra pushed open the door and the five stepped inside, stirring up clouds of dust as they did so. Once inside, it was hard to see much of anything. What little light there was first had to filter through the dirty window. Seth approached a display case and swiped his finger across it. A fine layer of dust covered everything. He drew a smiley face and was about to write "Seth was here" when Warren stopped him.

"Leave no evidence," Warren instructed.

Seth rolled his eyes but didn't doodle on anymore display cases.

"It feels deserted," whispered Kendra.

"Are we in the right place?" asked Brynn, her voice equally hushed.

"This is the address Harrison gave us," Elise confirmed.

"Well, if no one's here, we should just find the mirror and get out. Let's spread out; we'll cover more ground that way," Warren suggested.

"If you think you've found the Glass, don't look into it," Brynn cautioned. "It should give off a-"

"What's all the whispering about?"

Seth jumped. The voice seemed to come from nowhere. He looked around and discovered that the speaker was one of the mannequins, which was wearing an absurd feathered hat and a dress that looked like it belonged in an old movie. The mannequin turned toward them and whispered, "I do love secrets. What's going on? Is it someone's birthday?"

"Who are you?" Brynn demanded. Seth saw that her hand was resting on the hilt of her sword, which had materialized in her belt.

"Mom, you're scaring the customers." Another voice, that of a young male, echoed from somewhere in back of them.

The mannequin, which Seth realized was actually a rather round woman somewhere in her late forties, made a pouty face. "I couldn't resist!" she called back to who Seth assumed was her son. To Seth and the others she said apologetically, "You were such a strange-looking group I couldn't help but eavesdrop. Now, you say you're looking for a mirror?"

Though Brynn's sword had vanished again, she still looked angry. "You would do best not to repeat what you heard, for your safety and all of ours," she warned.

Kendra put a calming hand on the unicorn's arm.

The lights flickered on and the woman's son emerged from behind a pile of boxes. About twenty years of age, he was dressed more normally than his mother and had an air of goodness about him. "Let's try to keep things civil, all right?" he said. Seth detected no hint of threat in his voice; he was just being friendly.

Fortunately, Brynn had apparently decided not to make a retort.

"Yes, we're looking for a mirror," Warren said to the son. "Do you have one?"

It was the mother who responded. "Oh, yes, we have several," she answered gleefully. "Come see!" Without waiting to see if they would follow, she scurried off down one of the aisles, chattering aimlessly all the while.

"There was that nice one we found at that auction in London. Got a pretty penny for it, too. And the one we got from that fool in California! Neither he nor that idiot on T.V. had any idea of its real value. Happy to let it go for five hundred dollars, he was! Oh, and that parlor mirror Aunt Dolores left me. Or was it Aunt Ruth? Jason! Who left me a mirror in their will?"

"It was Aunt Martha," her son, Jason, called back.

"Oh, yes, that's right," the woman said thoughtfully. She turned back to Warren. "Anyway, they're all over there." She pointed to a stack of mirrors leaning against the wall. "Let me know if anything catches your eye!"

Warren didn't even glance at the pile. Based on Kendra's description, Seth knew they were all too large to be the Memory Glass anyway.

"Actually, we were interested in that other one you mentioned, the one that was on T.V.," Elise said.

The woman wet her lips uncertainly. "I doubt you could afford it," she said. "It's very valuable."

"Price isn't an issue," Warren said. Seth knew this was true; the Knights of the Dawn had several million dollars stored away for travel expenses and bribes.

"Ten thousand," the woman said flatly.

"Done."

"Oh, I'm sorry, that mirror isn't for sale," she said with a sigh. "It truly is a unique piece. And the engravings – they're not in a language I recognize, and I do want to know what they say."

Seth glanced at Kendra. Should they try to convince this woman that Kendra could read the writing?

As if guessing his thoughts, his sister shook her head. No, she would never believe them.

Warren was still negotiating. "Twenty?" he asked.

Sadly, the woman was not to be swayed. "I'm sorry, it's not for sale," she repeated.

Seth couldn't believe they were this close and the Memory Glass was going to slip right through their fingers. "Can we at least see it?" he asked. Maybe if he created a distraction…

The woman eyed him suspiciously. "No," she answered curly. "I don't show my greatest treasures to just anyone off the street. And if you aren't interested in buying anything else, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

Seth didn't think they had much choice as she escorted them to the door. "Do come back soon!" she gushed, falsely cheerful, as she ushered them outside. They all heard the distinct noise of a lock clicking into place.

Without discussion, the somewhat disheartened group set off down the street.

"Well, that was a waste of time," Seth muttered.

"Not entirely," said Elise.

Warren nodded in agreement. "If we're going to break in later – which I think we should, for the record – this served as reconnaissance," he pointed out.

"Assuming we're going to break in, when are we going to?" Kendra asked.

"It's, what, four o'clock now?" Warren said, glancing at his watch. "We should have plenty of time to find some dinner and book a hotel first, maybe even get some sleep, and then we can set out again at about midnight."

Kendra and Brynn exchanged a glance, which made Seth want to groan. Why were they so obsessed with the deadline? They had days to go yet!

"Would it not be better to strike now?"

"It's safer to attack under the cover of darkness," Elise explained.

"We need not wait for darkness. I could cloak us all with a spell of invisibility," Brynn offered.

"I'd rather wait, all the same," Elise said, looking uncomfortable.

"It's what we're used to," Warren said. "Elise and I have carried out several missions similar to this, and we know what to expect. We don't have time to make up another plan."

"Who said anything about making up a new plan?" Kendra asked. "Brynn suggested a different idea to _help_ with the plan we have. We can do everything your way, just invisible instead of hiding in the shadows."

"I _am_ invisible when I'm in the shadows," Seth said. The others ignored him.

"The Knights of the Dawn have managed for centuries without the type of magical aid you're suggesting," Elise snapped. "Relying on it is a weakness."

"True, but the Knights of the Dawn have not fought an intangible force like Ronodin before. We will _need_ magic to defeat him," Brynn retorted.

"Fat lot of good it did Bracken," Warren pointed out quietly.

Kendra cringed. Brynn looked as if she had been slapped in the face. Even Seth had to admit it was a low blow.

Brynn regained her composure quickly and said to Warren, "My brother was caught by surprise and is not the most adept in the magical arts regardless. I can assure you that once Bracken has been freed from Ronodin's grip, my mother's power will be more than enough to defeat the dark spirit."

Warren held up his hands as if to calm her. "Okay, fine, magical weapons for magical foes. But these are just normal people. We don't have to go overboard."

Seth had the strangest notion that he was being watched. He glanced back and saw that Jason from the antiques shop was standing a few feet away from them, watching them warily.

"Uh, guys…"

"You did not worry about 'going overboard' when you were rushing to stop Zzyzx from being opened," Brynn pointed out harshly.

"That was a matter of life and death – the end of the world!" Warren cried. "Surely you can't be comparing that to this."

Seth glanced over his shoulder again. Jason caught his eye and nodded.

"Guys!" Seth said forcefully.

Warren and Brynn stopped arguing to look at him.

He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "We've got company."

Jason approached the group hesitantly. He carried a small velvet box in one hand and a crystal vase in the other.

Before he could say anything, Elise asked, "Does your mother know you are here?"

Jason shook his head. "She thinks I'm delivering the vase to the florist down the street. I brought the mirror." He opened the box, revealing a circular mirror about three inches in diameter.

Warren eyed the mirror suspiciously. "Why should we trust you?"

"My mom was nuts not to take twenty thousand. I personally would have let it go for less," Jason replied.

"Why does she care so much about it?" Seth asked. Was it possible that these people knew something about the magical world?

Jason shrugged. "Honestly, I think she just thought it was cool to own something that was on T.V. I told her no one would care, since she wasn't the one who was actually on T.V. with it, but she didn't listen. Anyway, are you guys still interested in buying?"

The Knights (and unicorn) looked at each other. It seemed too good to be true. All that effort, all that traveling, just to have the Memory Glass handed to them on a silver platter? Well, in a velvet box, technically.

Warren reached into his backpack and pulled out a small leather-bound book. "Who should I make the check out to?" he asked.

Jason and Warren worked out the details, and Jason walked away with a check for twenty thousand dollars and a grin on his face. He probably thought they were insane, but if this mirror was truly the Memory Glass, it was far more valuable.

Elise opened the box and pulled out the mirror. "It certainly looks like you described it," she said, passing it to Brynn.

The unicorn examined the mirror carefully. She looked at the runes engraved on its golden frame. She even gazed into its depths for a moment, which Seth thought was stupid, because she had warned them explicitly not to do that.

"I don't know," she said uncertainly.

"Surely this can't _not_ be the Memory Glass," said Warren.

"I just feel like there should be a _spark_or something – a sign to tell us that this really is one of the most powerful artifacts of all time," Brynn said.

"Here, let me see," said Kendra.

Brynn handed the mirror to her. As soon as it touched Kendra's hands, they could immediately see the change. The indecipherable runes glowed brightly. As their light faded, the gold frame began to shine brilliantly, sparkling even in the fading daylight. The mirror was vibrating in Kendra's grasp.

"This is it!" Kendra exclaimed. "We found the Memory Glass!"

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>

Oh my gosh, an update! I know, I'm shocked, too. In these past couple days I cracked down on myself and decided that I really needed to finish off this chapter. This was originally supposed to be two chapters, and it would have been up much sooner, had I not hit a dead end about halfway through. It was about to turn into Kendra's Nervous Breakdown #2, which I decided wasn't necessary. Thus I cut out the entire incident in Los Angeles and skipped ahead to Warren and Seth's flight to Minnesota.

I'm sorry it took so long, and hopefully the next chapter will be up much faster than this one. Until then, please read and review, and all comments and critique are appreciated!


	8. Dreams

**Chapter Eight**

When Bracken woke, it was dark.

He hadn't meant to fall asleep. In fact, he hadn't known it was possible. Regardless, he had intended to stay awake, lest Ronodin catch him off guard and use his lapse in attention to attack him in some way. But apparently spirits could fall asleep in their own bodies, because he had the distinct feeling that he was awakening.

He wasn't sure if he actually had eyes to open anymore. Perhaps not, because he certainly couldn't see anything. Before, he had been able to see whatever Ronodin chose to look at, of that much he was certain. Now, though, everything was shrouded in blackness.

Bracken began to worry. Was it possible that while he was unaware Ronodin had crept up on him and used magic to cripple him? Worse, had the dark unicorn somehow managed to remove him from his own body? Was he doomed to exist in this blind, insubstantial state for the rest of his existence?

The last thing he remembered was condensing his spirit into a tiny ball and attempting to block out what was going on around him, since he was unable to bear seeing Ronodin strut about the Fairy Realm. Maybe, just maybe, he had blocked everything out so well that he had cut himself off from Ronodin entirely. He tentatively stretched out his senses, hoping for some sign that he was indeed still inside his mind.

His vision remained stubbornly black, but as he concentrated, he was able to make out the soft, rhythmic beat of his heart.

He was still alive, at least.

He then became aware of the air flowing in and out of his lungs. He attempted to hold his breath and failed, so he assumed Ronodin was still in control. Why, then, couldn't he see anything?

Abruptly, he – his body – rolled over. He was conscious of lying on something soft. His head was resting on a pillow…

All at once, the pieces clicked together – Ronodin was asleep!

Bracken could hardly believe his luck. He might never get a chance like this again. Maybe if he caught the dark unicorn unaware, he could force him out of his body, or at least allow himself to regain control. He only needed a minute, just enough time to find the Fairy Queen or one of his sisters and tell them what was going on. Ideas began to form, though he was careful to keep them to himself so he wouldn't rouse Ronodin's dormant spirit.

He had been able to throw Ronodin off balance once before. Of course, in the few days that had passed, it was more than likely that he had grown more powerful and thus more difficult to dislodge. On the other hand, he was currently asleep, which would undoubtedly make it difficult for him to react quickly. His mind made up, Bracken reached deep inside himself, seeking to tap into his reservoir of power.

What he encountered shocked him. First he felt the strands of magic that connected him to his horns. The thinnest one, connected to the Font of Immortality, was as pure as ever, but the other two seemed tainted. His second horn contained a shocking amount of evil; Bracken remembered that Ronodin had handled the sword on a few occasions. His first horn he had only been keeping with him until he found someone else to pass it on to, but it, too, had darkened. The thought that Ronodin's presence was affecting the very essence of his being disgusted him.

But what was worse was that when he reached out to his magical energy, he found nothing more than a few drops. It was no more than he'd had after creating the Final Sanctuary and attempting to fend Ronodin off the first time. This puzzled him at first, because his energy was supposed to regenerate over time, rather like how the human body replenishes lost blood. Next, though, he discovered a much larger store of energy – Ronodin's own dark power. Had Bracken's spirit still been connected to his body, he would have felt sick to his stomach.

His body was producing dark magic rather than its own natural kind.

Still, the mass of dark energy gave him an idea. Sure, it wasn't quite the burst of purity he had been hoping for, but he could use it all the same. Imagining the look on Ronodin's face when he realized he had been defeated with his own magic, Bracken chuckled silently. Then, though his instincts cringed away from it, he steeled himself for what he was going to do.

Warily, cautiously, he stretched out a tendril of his mind to touch the darkness.

The contact lasted for only an instant, but in that instant, a wave of information slammed into Bracken's mind. For a split second he was part of Ronodin's mind; he saw the world as the dark unicorn saw it, felt hatred and fury and a yearning for power as the dark unicorn felt them. But then he was swept up in a whirlwind of memories: millennia spent in the Fairy Realm, biding his time, followed by millennia spent in darkness as a disembodied spirit. Throughout it all, the need to protect something… a secret? But before Bracken could grasp that thought he was again pulled along.

Dark energy poured into Bracken. It filled his soul with torment and grief. He felt as though he was plummeting into a bottomless pit of no return. A few times in his life he had felt the thrill of absolute power, usually on the battlefield when he was using magic to fight, but that was a raindrop compared to this waterfall. Rather than him controlling the flow of energy, it was controlling him. He felt the urge to destroy, to vanquish, to conquer anything. He hated it completely, and there was part of him that clung to his true nature, but that part was slowly being crushed by the flow of blackness.

Frustratingly, he still had not regained control of his body.

Despite it all, Bracken could understand why Ronodin had turned to the dark. There was something about it that appealed. There was the hope, the slightest chance, that one could overcome that darkness and use it to their own ends. It didn't matter that many had tried and failed before them; there was still the slight opportunity that _they_ would be the first one to take control.

All of this Bracken felt in the span of a second before he was abruptly torn away from the dark magic by none other than Ronodin himself.

What _did__ you __think__ you__ were __doing?_ Ronodin screamed at him.

Bracken didn't respond. He held still, trembling (assuming spirits could tremble). With the dark magic gone, he felt empty. Empty in a good way, he told himself. He never wanted to experience that again.

_Did __you __think __that __killing __yourself __would __free__ you__ from__ me?_ Ronodin demanded.

_What?_ Bracken asked. His voice sounded small and weak beside Ronodin's.

_What __else __did __you__ plan__ to __accomplish?__ Surely__ you __didn__'__t __think __you __could __use __my__ own__ magic__ against__ me._ Ronodin laughed coldly. _Ignorant __fool, __unicorns __are __so __pure __that __exposing __them __to __the __slightest __whiff__ of __undiluted __darkness __leaves __them __helpless.__You __must __do __it __gradually.__You__ don__'__t__ become __lord __of__ the __darkness__ all __at__ once._

Bracken wasn't sure how to respond to that. He was still a little startled by how close he had come to obliteration. Besides, he was puzzled about why Ronodin had chosen to save him from that fate. It didn't seem like something the dark unicorn would do, which meant he probably had another motive, and that made Bracken wary.

Ronodin seemed to be an especially good mood, because he said, __Get away from here. Be thankful that I am feeling merciful. If I catch you doing something that is not to my liking again, I will not be so generous.__

Bracken was quick to retreat to the corner of his mind. But as he went, he heard Ronodin mutter to himself, __Just three more days. Three more days and then there will be nothing between me and the throne of the Fairy Realm.__

Bracken froze. So that was what Ronodin was after. He wanted control of the Fairy Realm. Bracken wasn't sure how he planned to do it, but he now knew that there were only three days left to stop him.

Three days. It had already been four, and no one had rescued him yet. Was it ever reasonable to hope that someone could rescue him before then?

* * *

><p>Brynn was walking down a corridor in the palace. She walked at a brisk pace and with an air of impatience about her. She didn't know where she was going, but she knew it was imperative that she get there quickly.<p>

In the back of her mind she knew she was dreaming. The last thing she remembered was lying down in bed in the hotel Warren had booked for them. Still, she was curious to see why her dreams hat brought her to the Fairy Realm. She had learned long ago that she usually dreamed for a reason.

As her feet carried her along the familiar corridors, she realized that something seemed odd. Something flickered at the edge of her senses. She reached out with her mind to see if she could detect anything out of the ordinary. She felt each unicorn within the palace as a bright dot of energy. Slightly smaller dots, the human-sized fairies, were also scattered throughout the palace. There was an unusual amount of activity in the infirmary; even the Fairy Queen was present. She realized that this was where her feet were taking her.

Brynn turned a corner and immediately noticed a change. Though the spheres of light that illuminated the palace were as abundant as usual, their glow was dimmer than normal. As she continued walking, the lights grew dimmer until they hardly glowed at all. She could practically feel the evil in the air. Stretching out her mind further, she found that most of the sparks that represented life had shrunken to tiny specks. The only full-sized ones were within the infirmary.

In her search, Brynn's mind brushed another – one she was all-too familiar with, one that was now sadly tinged with darkness. She broke into a run.

When she passed through the archway at the entrance to the infirmary, she was met by a strange sight. Unicorns, astrids, and fairies alike crowded the vast hall. Some lay on the rarely-used beds. This alone was cause for worry; the immortal inhabitants of the Fairy Realm rarely fell ill. The infirmary was merely a formality. She hadn't seen it used in many years until Bracken and the Fairy Queen had returned from Shoreless Isle with the catatonic Fairy King in tow. Now it seemed that the entire population was present.

She spotted the Fairy Queen and Ophelia engaged in serious discussion some distance away from the entrance. She hesitated to interrupt, but Ophelia noticed her and waved her over.

"Brynn!" Ophelia cried softly. "Why are you still here? I thought you left."

"I am here in mind only," Brynn replied. To her mother, she said, her voice much colder, "Now do you believe me?"

The Fairy Queen sighed. "Brynn, I'm so sorry," she murmured. "What Bracken – I mean, Ronodin – said when he first returned… it seemed to fit the events perfectly. It was far more logical than one of our greatest foes returning from the dead."

Brynn looked her mother straight in the eye. "But that's not all," she said.

"No, you're right. I admit that I was reluctant to believe that anything had happened to Bracken. After all these centuries… I had truly hoped that I would never lose him again." Grief and regret rolled off of the Fairy Queen in waves.

Brynn could have said a number of things to that. She could have accused the Fairy Queen of playing favorites, of loving Bracken more than the rest of them. She could have chastised her for not seeing what was right before her eyes all along. She could have berated her for punishing her when she had only been speaking the truth. But none of those things would help the situation. So instead, she said, "I too, am sorry, Mother. I should not have left against your wishes. I should not have disobeyed you with such impudence. But I bring good news – the Knights of the Dawn have located the Memory Glass. We believe we can use it to remove Ronodin from Bracken's body."

"The Memory Glass? I thought it existed only in legend," Ophelia said.

At the same time, the Fairy Queen said, "The Knights of the Dawn? They have not left the Fairy Realm since their return from exile, at least as far as I am aware."

"Not the astrids; the human Knights," Brynn said. "The organization committed to ensuring the safety of the preserves and keeping Zzyzx sealed. Your handmaiden is among them, Kendra Sorenson."

"That explains it," the Fairy Queen said, her expression unreadable.

When she didn't continue, Brynn turned to her sister. "What happened while I was gone? Why is everyone gathered in the infirmary?"

"After you, er, left," Ophelia began, "Mother was… displeased. For three days she stewed while the rest of us tried to pretend everything was normal. I told our sisters what you said had happened, and we waited, wondering if you would every come back from your desperate quest. Then, at dawn on the fourth day – yesterday – something, er, happened, and we realized that Ronodin was in the palace. He was-"

"What happened?" Brynn interrupted.

"I can't tell you if you keep interrupting. He was using his—"

"Not that," Brynn said impatiently. "You said 'something happened,' and then you realized Ronodin was in the palace."

"Oh." Ophelia glanced at the floor uncomfortably. "It is supposed to remain a secret."

"Ophelia!" Brynn exclaimed. "Even from your own sister?'

A deep voice spoke from behind them. "It's all right, Ophelia. We can tell her."

Brynn thought her heart might stop. She hadn't heard that voice in millennia. Even in these past few months, when she had wished dearly to hear it, the person to whom it belonged had remained silent.

Without turning around, she muttered to herself, "Oh, I'm dreaming. I knew I was dreaming from the start, but I thought, maybe, at least my mind was present. It's happened before. But I guess even I must have normal dreams sometimes."

"Daughter, you may be dreaming, but I can assure you, this is not in your imagination."

Brynn couldn't help it anymore. Almost against her will, she turned around to look at the speaker.

It was really, truly him. He had lost a lot of weight and his face was lined with wrinkles, signs of weakness that were uncommon in unicorns and that worried Brynn. His eyes had a haunted look to them, but they brightened when they met Brynn's. Though he leaned heavily on his staff, he reached out to her with one arm. Brynn returned the hug and buried her face in the Fairy King's chest.

When she finally looked up – for the King was still a full head taller than her – she murmured, "After all these months, we didn't think… We didn't know…"

"Unicorns are among the greatest healers, but some things only time will mend," the Fairy King said.

"How did you survive for all those years?" Brynn asked. The question had been nagging her since she knew her father was still alive.

"Mostly because of the Demon King, I'm sorry to say," the Fairy King admitted. "He cast spells that kept me alive, but also kept me from regaining my full power. Still, not long after my capture, I entered the Final Sanctuary as a precaution."

"Then how did you awaken?" Brynn asked. She had seen two too many cases of the Final Sanctuary being breached for her liking. It was supposed to be indestructible.

"My mental barriers had deteriorated over the millennia, but they would have lasted for centuries more had my – had Ronodin not interfered," the Fairy King said.

"The moment Ronodin revealed his true self, Father sat up in his bed. 'He's here,' he said," Ophelia explained. "That was all I needed to hear. I raised the alarm and gathered as many of us as I could in the infirmary. We were very lucky that Mother was here visiting Father. Had she not… So much of the palace was overwhelmed so quickly… But she was, and we were able to begin raising barriers almost immediately."

"How long will the barriers hold?" asked Brynn.

"It depends," Ophelia replied. "But if Ronodin is able to amass enough energy, they will crumble before him."

Brynn turned to her father. She wanted to savor every moment that she could with him. "What happened to your horns?" she asked, remembering how Bracken had said there had been no sign of them.

"Gone," the Fairy King said, the sound of loss in his voice unmistakable. "My first horn I gave to your mother many years ago as a token of my love. But the others… I suspect that they ran out of energy within their first century in the demon prison and disintegrated under the pressure of darkness. I can no longer revert to my true form."

"Like Bracken," Brynn whispered. She recalled how her brother had resented the loss of his third horn, though voluntary. He had thought it made him weaker than the others. But now he wasn't the only one.

Hopefully he would live long enough to find out.

Then something occurred to her. She asked Ophelia quietly, "Does he know?"

The Fairy King answered her anyway. "Yes, Brynn, I am aware that my son is the vehicle Ronodin has chosen to carry out his evil deeds. I have been informed of this by many. But I would like to hear it from one who experienced it firsthand. Tell me, Brynn, how did it happen?"

"We should sit down. It's a long story," Brynn said evasively.

Ophelia guided them over to an empty bed with a chair beside it. The Fairy King sighed but climbed into the bed anyway. From the relieved look on Ophelia's face Brynn gathered that she had been trying to get him to rest for a while. Based on the groan her father gave as he lay down, Brynn realized that he had needed the rest but had been too proud of admit it.

Brynn sat in the chair and waited while the Fairy King propped himself up on his pillows. When he was settled, she took his hand for support and began her tale. She started with Kendra's plea for help and didn't stop until she reached her return to the Fairy Realm. When she paused for breath, the Fairy King asked a few questions, but then she continued. She glossed over the Fairy Queen's harshness, saying that she had been blinded by her love for her son. She concluded with their visit to Minnesota and how they had finally obtained the Memory Glass.

"This is great news," the Fairy King said when she finished. "When you awaken—"

Whatever he was going to say was cut off by a piercing scream from the entrance to the infirmary. Brynn looked up and saw that the archway had been sealed off by a brilliant white wall, but a dark crack had appeared down the middle. As she watched, more cracks appeared, until the barrier began to crumble. Darkness surged into the room.

Brynn stood, prepared to face the threat, but the Fairy King grabbed her arm. His grip was alarmingly weak, but she didn't pull away.

"Brynn, go!" he instructed.

"I won't leave you," she said. She put her hands together, preparing to cast a spell to shield them.

The darkness was nearly upon them.

"Awaken!" the Fairy King commanded.

Brynn sat up in bed, breathing heavily, her heart hammering. She blinked, disoriented by the change of scene, until she realized that she was back in the human world. It was still night time in Minnesota.

She got up and began fumbling around in the darkness for her clothes. She had to tell the others what had happened.

* * *

><p><em>Kendra pushed between two bushes and arrived at the center of the island. A tiny stream came out of the ground and flowed lazily down a slop to collect in a small pond. Near the source of the stream stood a miniature yet incredibly detailed statues of a fairy. Kendra recognized the shrine to the Fairy Queen. The peculiar thing was that this wasn't the new shrine at Fablehaven. This was the old one which the Fairy Queen had destroyed during the shadow plague.<em>

_ She approached the statue and knelt before it. Almost immediately she felt another mind touch her own, bringing with it a sense of peace and calm. "Is that you?" she whispered._

Yes, _the__ Fairy __Queen__ replied._

_ "I can hear you more clearly than before," Kendra observed._

You are now fairykind. I can reach your mind with much less effort, _the __Queen__ explained._

_ "You're called the Fairy Queen, but who are you, really?" asked Kendra._

I am _molea_. There is no word to aptly describe me in your language. I am not a fairy. I am _the_ fairy. The mother, the eldest sister, the protector. For the good of my sisters, I reside beyond your world, in a kingdom untouched by darkness.

_"__Bracken __is__ in__ danger,__" __Kendra __said._

He has been tainted by a terrible darkness. If such darkness were to pollute me, all would be lost.

_A vision unfolded in Kendra's mind. She saw the pond and the shrine spread out below her. For a moment everything seemed normal, but then the grass began to wither and the plants began to die. A dark stain spread across the pond until all of the water was dark. A naiad, green-skinned with pointed fangs, surfaced, snapped at the air, and dove back into the pond. A tainted hamadryad stood beside her tree, grinning wickedly as the bark turned a sickly green color._

_ Kendra opened her eyes, expecting the vision to vanish, but nothing had changed. All of the life seemed to have gone out of the world. When she looked back at the statue, she saw not the tiny fairy but Bracken. Then, as she watched, he turned into the darkened Bracken she had become all too familiar with. The dark unicorn advanced toward her, his red eyes glowing evilly._

Kendra awoke. She stared into the blackness for a minute, trying to shake off the terror of her dream. What an odd thing to dream about. Sure, she had had dreams about some of the more dramatic events she had experienced since being exposed to the magical world, particularly what had happened on Shoreless Isle, but never that particular conversation with the Fairy Queen. And the way it had ended… She shuddered.

Soon she became aware that she was not the only one awake. Brynn was moving around, rummaging in her suitcase.

"What are you doing up?" Kendra whispered.

Brynn paused. She was silent for so long that Kendra thought she had returned to bed. When she finally spoke, her voice trembled.

"The Fairy Realm has fallen."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>

I'm pleased that I managed to get this chapter up so quickly. I suppose it helped that I was writing about my favorite character again…

Anyway, I've had this story planned out pretty much from the beginning, but in this chapter I added a little bit of a twist. For whatever reason I was thinking of Kendra's conversation with the Fairy Queen in the third book, and I thought about how she said "If such darkness were to pollute me, all would be lost." Now, obviously, such darkness didn't pollute the Fairy Queen… at least, not then. We'll see where this goes later. More plot development in the next chapter, hopefully!  
>I hope you enjoyed this chapter ^^ All reviews are appreciated!<p> 


	9. Darkness Spreads

**Chapter Nine**

While Kendra and Brynn were telling Elise, Warren, and Seth about their strange dreams, Grandma and Grandpa Sorenson were sitting down to enjoy a nice cup of coffee and read the paper. It was too early yet for anyone else to be up and they had the kitchen to themselves. Grandma appeared to be joining the peace and quiet, but Grandpa alternated between drumming his fingers on the table and glancing out the window.

"Is something bothering you, dear?" Grandma asked.

Grandpa sighed. "Don't you wish you were out there with them?"

Grandma seemed to know he didn't mean out in the forest with Dale and Hugo. "You had your turn as a Knight of the Dawn," she said gently. "Let the younger generation do the dirty work. Besides, you know you don't really want to be on the front lines. You'd be complaining about your bad knees." She smiled, but Grandpa didn't share in the joke.

"That's exactly it," Grandpa said. "I feel like I'm too old. Useless."

"Nonsense. You and I went with the rescue party to Living Mirage last spring," Grandma pointed out.

"Yes, and we got captured for our efforts. We spent a week in a jail cell while our nephew and our grandchildren – mere children! – risked their necks on Shoreless Isle."

"We can't change what happened. The past is the past. But why do you bring it up now?"

"Warren and Seth and Kendra are off hopping around the country and another adventure, trying to save the son of the Fairy Queen, and I feel like all I'm good for is watching things at home." He ended with another bitter sigh.

"Nonsense," Grandma repeated. "You're Captain of the Knights of the Dawn."

The reminder seemed to perk Grandpa up a bit. "Don't remind me – I've got a mountain of paperwork to get through when I'm done in the stables."

"See, we need you – we're too lazy to do the legal work ourselves," Grandma teased.

She glanced outside at the forest. The leaves were beginning to change; reds and yellows and browns spread like wildfire across the blanket of green. "That's peculiar," she remarked. "The dryads don't usually let autumn into their branches."

Grandpa squinted out at the trees. Grandma was right; signs of fall were evident throughout the yard and the forest. Several dry leaves littered the grass. As he watched, another detached itself from a branch and fluttered down.

"It's beautiful," Grandma went on. "I haven't seen colors like this since… Oh, not for a very long time. We've spent every autumn on the preserve that I can remember. For many years, at least. Now that I think of it, I miss New England autumns."

"Yes, yes, it's very pretty, but don't you think it looks… odd?" Grandpa frowned out at the trees. "I would understand if the dryads allowed their leaves to change for aesthetic reasons, but the leaves are actually dying. It's strange."

Grandma sipped her coffee. "Are you going to investigate?"

"I think I will." Grandpa stood up, grabbed his coat, and headed outside.

As soon as he set foot on the deck he wished he'd worn a heavier jacket. It was unseasonably cold for September. He crunched on frozen dew as he crossed the yard to the edge of the forest. As he passed beneath the trees, the grass turned into dried leaves. A breeze stirred the branches.

In all the years Grandpa Sorenson had been caretaker of Fablehaven, he hadn't been scared by much. He had faced down a charging minotaur and delivered a sacrifice to a giant. In the past two years it seemed the disasters had increased, but he had hardly been fazed by the incident with Muriel and had come to terms with the consequences of the shadow plague. But now, standing in the middle of the freezing forest in his pajamas and slippers, he felt chills creep down his spine.

Something was terribly wrong.

Perhaps the lead dryad would know what was going on, Grandpa thought. "Lizette?" he called. His voice echoed in the seemingly empty woods.

Minutes passed. Grandpa was debating going back inside when three stately women appeared from the trees – literally. Was it his imagination, or did they seem less vibrant than usual? Their clothes seemed drab and all three had bags under their eyes.

"Stan Sorenson," the dryad in front, Lizette, said wearily. "What is the meaning of this?"

Grandpa was taken aback. He hadn't expected to be accused; he was the one who was supposed to be doing the questioning. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about," Lizette snapped, but there was little energy in the retort. "This all began with the dark spirit you unleashed on the property five days ago."

"Five and half," corrected the dryad to Lizette's left.

"Technically, it has only been five and eleven twenty-fourths days," the third dryad said. "We detected the spirit at seven o'clock in the evening."

Meanwhile, Grandpa's mind was racing. Was it possible that a wraith had escaped the dungeon and wreaked havoc on the preserve? But then he counted back the days – five and a half days ago was the night of Kendra's sixteenth birthday.

He chose not to get angry over the accusation; it would only inflame the situation further. Instead he said calmly, "We are aware of the problem and are working to remedy it. Anyway, we were under the impression that the spirit had left the preserve. Why do you mention it now?"

Lizette shook her head in disbelief. "You truly do not know?" she asked.

"What?" Grandpa demanded.

"The forest is dying," she said bleakly.

"The dark spirit may have left, but it has caused terrible damage," said one of the other dryads mournfully.

"Good energy is rapidly diminishing," said the third. "The connection between the Fairy Realm and this world is dissolving."

"What? How is that possible?" Grandpa exclaimed. "I have never heard of such a thing."

"The shrine to the Fairy Queen is crumbling," Lizette answered. "We fear the spirit may have sabotaged it. A dark poison is seeping from the island into the pond and is contaminating the preserve."

Panic threatened, but Grandpa pushed it away. Fablehaven had been on the brink of collapse several times before. He had to believe they would prevail. But whatever this dark unicorn had forced Bracken to do, it appeared to be serious. "How long will the connection last?" he inquired.

"The shrine itself has a day or two at best. After that…" Lizette shrugged helplessly. "There's no telling how much longer the Fairy Realm will remain. You say you have mortals attending the problem?"

Grandpa nodded.

Lizette drew herself up to her full height. She towered a foot over Grandpa, but she looked less impressive than she usually did, somehow; she seemed to carry a heavy weight on her shoulders. She said sharply, "You would do well to remember, Stan Sorenson, that if the Fairy Realm falls completely, it would be disastrous. The Fair Folk, naiads and dryads and fairies, would perish first, followed shortly by the rest of the magical creatures. Except for demons and creatures of darkness, of course. And at last, when this earth is nothing more than a barren wasteland, the human race, too, will die off. The Fairy Realm is tied more closely to this world than you can imagine. It is in your best interest to preserve it."

The three dryads turned abruptly as one and melted back into the trees.

Grandpa stood alone in the forest. He pondered what he had just learned. It seemed things were more dire than he had thought. Originally he had believed it was just Bracken's life on the line. Now it seemed the fate of the world lay on the success of this mission. And yet from here at Fablehaven there was nothing he could do but wait until the others returned, which wouldn't be until that evening.

Nothing for the old guy to do until his relatives came home to save the world for him.

He turned slowly and trudged back to the house, trying not to think about the ache in his knees.

He had almost reached the steps to the deck when he heard something heavy moving behind him. He spun – somewhat slower than he had in his glory days, he reflected sadly – and saw Hugo coming out of the forest. Hugo was a golem, a humanoid creature made of dirt and stone designed for hard labor. Until a few years ago he had been like a mindless robot, obeying orders without question. But after the battle at the Forgotten Chapel when Muriel and Bahumat nearly overthrew the preserve, the fairies had given Hugo a spark of free will. The golem still worked and obeyed most commands, but now he was capable of learning and even of some speech.

"Hugo!" Grandpa called. "Aren't you supposed to be working with Dale this morning?" He noticed the golem was cradling something in his hands.

"Fairies sad," Hugo rumbled.

This worried Grandpa. Was it possible that the fairies were also feeling the effects of whatever was happening in the Fairy Realm? It had to be serious, because he had never known fairies to show any emotion other than jealousy and vanity.

"Why are the fairies sad, Hugo?" Grandpa asked.

"Shrine weak." Hugo held out his hands, but Grandpa couldn't see what he was carrying. He hurried down the steps and went to meet the golem.

"What have you got there, big guy?" he asked.

Hugo lowered his hands so Grandpa could see. "Fairies sad," he repeated.

Grandpa gasped. In his massive hands, Hugo gingerly carried a dead fairy.

* * *

><p>"Let me get this straight," Seth said for the third time that morning. They had landed in New York just an hour ago and were beginning the three-hour drive back to Fablehaven. Kendra and Brynn had explained multiple times, but he just couldn't wrap his mind around what was going on. "Brynn was somehow in the Fairy Realm, but not really because she was here all the time, and she talked to the Fairy King, who woke up, somehow. And then this dark unicorn dude, Ronodin, came in and destroyed everything?"<p>

"He forced the Realm into a state of darkness," Brynn explained, also for the third time. "Perhaps not the entire Realm, maybe only the palace, but in any case, the situation is dire."

"But what does that mean?" Seth asked. Weren't the Fairy Queen and King supposed to be ultra powerful? Surely together they could overpower Ronodin.

"The palace will be filled with darkness. It's like a fog, but for creatures of light, it will be like moving through molasses," Brynn said. "Most won't be able to move at all, and will remain frozen in the positions they were in when the darkness overcame them."

"Will everyone be evil and dark like Bracken was?" Warren asked. "Like slaves to Ronodin, I mean."

"No, he can't control them," Kendra answered. "He would need to be inside their minds for that, and he has his hands full with Bracken."

That sounded fairly optimistic to Seth, but hopefully she was right.

"What about the Fairy Queen?" Elise asked, echoing Seth's earlier thought. "Has she also been overpowered?"

"My mother—" Brynn's voice trembled. She cleared her throat and began again. "My mother expended much of her energy protecting the infirmary and helping my father. It is likely that they were weak enough for Ronodin to overcome them both."

"So we can't count on any outside help," Warren surmised.

"You are correct. I cannot," Brynn said sharply.

"Wait a sec," Seth said. "You're not going by _yourself_."

"Of course not," Kendra said, but she glanced at Brynn uncertainly.

Brynn hesitated, appearing to be choosing her words carefully. "I appreciate your assistance," she began. "I admit that without your aid it would have been impossible to obtain the Memory Glass. Indeed, I would have given up hope before even embarking on a quest to save my brother. But here your involvement must end. Going up against Ronodin would be madness. He is more powerful than you can imagine."

"So why are you going by yourself?" Seth demanded.

"I am not entirely helpless," she snapped. As if to prove her point, she held up a fist and the air in the car seemed to tremble. She maintained her position for a moment more, and then dropped her arm back to her lap.

"Whoa, I feel like I was just insulted," Warren remarked, but he sounded amused. "Don't you, Seth?"

"Definitely," Seth agreed. To Brynn he said, "I'm a shadow charmer and I killed two of the most powerful demons in the world. Kendra's fairykind and she slew the freaking _Demon King_! Warren and Elise… Well, they're Knights of the Dawn. They've probably done awesome stuff, too."

"Gee, thanks, Seth," Warren grumbled.

"Anyway, my point us, don't you dare call _us_ helpless. When that dark unicorn catches sight of us, he'll run away screaming like a little girl if he knows what's good for him!" Seth pounded a fist into his hand.

"I think what Seth is trying to say is that you shouldn't discount our help just because we're not immortal and all-powerful," Elise said. "And we _can_ be helpful."

Brynn now looked uncomfortable. "I still don't know if it would be wise," she said. "Humans in the Fairy Realm…"

"We can't screw things up even more than Ronodin did," Warren pointed out.

When Brynn still didn't concede, Seth cried impatiently, "Come on! Are you afraid you're gonna get upstaged by a bunch of humans or something?"

"I'm _not_ afraid," Brynn said forcefully.

So vehement was her statement that she shocked everyone into silence. For a while the only sound was the hum of the engine as they raced down the highway.

"That's not what I mean," Seth mumbled, feeling slightly guilty.

"I am… _worried_ that I may not be able to combat Ronodin," Brynn clarified. "When he raised an army of demons and waged war on the Fairy Realm many millennia ago, I witnessed the full extent of his power. No one person could hope to defeat him."

"But if we worked together…" Warren hinted.

"Yes, I can see how that might work," Brynn mused. "If we can somehow catch him off guard…"

The talk turned into a discussion of strategy, and Seth quickly lost interest. He glanced out the window, hoping to spot a familiar landmark, but it was too dark to see anything.

"Hey, see anything that looks familiar?" he whispered to Kendra.

She shook her head.

"What about road signs? We could be scoping out dinner options."

She shook her head.

"What?"

"Seth, I can't see _anything_ out there. It's too dark." Kendra stared into his eyes. They passed under a street lamp and the bright light illuminated the fear plain on Kendra's face.

It was alarming, but Seth tried to act nonchalant. They didn't need _another_ problem on their hands. "What, you think you're losing your magic fairy powers or something?"

"Yes, Seth, that's exactly what I think," she hissed.

"Whoa. Chill out. What do you expect me to do about it? I'm a shadow charmer. Friend of the darkness and all that fun stuff. But you've gotta tell the others," he urged. "Tell Brynn. She's a unicorn. She'll know what's going on."

"No!" The forcefulness of Kendra's response startled him. Still in a whisper, she said, "You don't understand. What you said about me being fairykind and slaying the Demon King… Without my power, I'm just an ordinary teenage girl. What if the Fairy Queen figured that out and decided not to let me be her handmaiden anymore?"

"First of all, I don't think it works like that. This fairy handmaiden deal sounded like it was for life. Second, the Fairy Queen probably has other things on her mind right now," Seth reminded her.

"I guess. But _don't_ tell them, okay? I've gotta figure this out on my own."

"Why do you care so much?" Seth whispered.

"When we free Bracken… I don't want to feel useless. I don't want him to think I just tagged along for the ride." Kendra's voice dropped even lower and Seth had to strain to hear her. "I don't want to be just his pathetic wannabe girlfriend."

Seth barely held in a snicker. Was that what this was all about? "Jeez, Kendra!" he replied. "The guy showed up out of the blue for your birthday dinner. He likes you, you like him. End of story. I wouldn't be surprised if he plants a big wet one on you as soon as we get Ronodin out of his body."

"Seth!" Blushing, Kendra slapped him. But he could tell she looked pleased.

They spent the rest of the ride in silence.

About an hour later, they arrived at Fablehaven. Everyone who was available (Mara, Trask, Vanessa, and Tanu were still away) convened in the kitchen to discuss their next move. Warren and Brynn carefully laid out the plans they had begun formulating in the car.

Grandma Sorenson seemed unimpressed by their ideas, though. "So basically you intend to go to the Fairy Realm, track down Ronodin without being caught first, somehow incapacitate him and force him to look into this tiny mirror?" She tapped the velvet box that contained the Memory Glass.

"That pretty much sums it up," Warren said. He clapped his hands together. "So who's up for it?"

"Hold your horses," Grandma said sternly. "No one's going anywhere yet."

"Come on, Grandma, just let us go," Seth complained. Kendra elbowed him in the ribs and shot him al look that said, _Don't you dare mess this up._

"I don't think all five of you need to go," Grandma explained. "The Fairy Queen has never approved of humans in her Realm. Why can't Brynn go by herself?"

"What, you're saying the rest of us should wimp out?" Warren asked indignantly.

"I'm not questioning your bravery," Grandma assured him. "I'm just saying there's no need to risk unnecessary death or injury."

Seth felt Kendra stiffen beside him. He flinched; Grandma must have said something to really set her off. Things were about to get ugly.

"You mean," Kendra said, a volcano about to erupt, "that it's all right for Brynn to put her life on the line for Bracken, but it's not for the rest of us? Even after everything he did for us last spring?"

"I am sure Brynn is more than capable—"

"_Brynn_ is present," the unicorn reminded them.

"I can't believe you think it's okay for us to back out right when things start heating up!" Kendra cried.

"That's not how the Knights of the Dawn operate," Elise agreed.

"We've come this far, we're going to see it through," Warren said firmly.

"Warren, Elise, you are grown adults and I can't stop you from doing what you want, no matter how foolish it is," Grandma conceded. "But Kendra, Seth—"

"We've faced down bigger stuff than Ronodin before!" Seth said. "What would have happened if we chickened out last spring on Shoreless Isle?"

"Pure luck," Grandma said flatly.

"If we were just relying on dumb luck the whole time, we would have died a zillion times over," Seth said.

Kendra gave him another look and said to Grandma calmly, "Grandma, what is it going to take to convince you to let us go?"

Grandma took a deep breath. "All right, I need to be honest with you. First, your father is very angry because there is a space of about two hours on Wednesday night that he can't recall and when he woke up on Thursday morning Kendra was gone. Second, Seth, are you sure you're not just looking for adventure?"

Seth's response to that was "Heck yeah!" but he didn't think that was what she wanted him to say. But life at Fablehaven had gotten dull over the past six months. After everything that had happened, anything the preserve could throw at him seemed tame. Now, a dark unicorn that wanted to take over the Fairy Realm and basically destroy the world? _That_ was cool. What was wrong with wanting a little danger to spice things up a bit? But Grandma didn't seem to need a reply; she had already moved on.  
>"And Kendra, just how serious are you about this boy?"<p>

Kendra slammed a fist on the table. "Oh my God!" she shouted. "Why is everyone jumping to conclusions?"

Everyone stared at her.

"What? Just because I'm a teenage girl, I need to be obsessed with a boy? The only reason I went to the Fairy Queen is because I wanted to look good to Bracken? Good God! I would have done the same if it was anyone. If Seth collapsed in the middle of dinner, or Grandma or Grandpa or Elise or Trask or _anyone_. Because it's the right thing to do. So lay off the boy thing, okay?"

The room was silent. Even Grandma couldn't seem to think of something to say to that.

A tired voice came from the doorway. "Ruth, just let them go."

Seth spun in his seat and saw Grandpa. At least, he assumed it was Grandpa, but he looked like he had aged ten years in the week since Seth had seen him last.

"They _need_ to go," Grandpa went on wearily. "The fairies…"

Seth didn't know what he meant, but it quickly sobered Grandma up. "How many more?" she murmured.

"Eight," Grandpa said bleakly. "Thirteen more on the brink of death. And there are probably others, those who weren't in the gardens, but I don't dare risk going into the woods."

"What's wrong with the fairies?" Kendra asked.

"All creatures of light draw on the Fairy Realm for their life source," Brynn answered. "If Ronodin's darkness goes unchecked, eventually all will perish."

Kendra's eyes widened. Had she just come to the same conclusion as Seth?

"The dryads said the connection to the shrine is failing," Grandpa said. "You should leave before it's too late."

Brynn stood up abruptly. "Of course—why didn't I think–?" She closed her eyes, concentrating briefly. "We have less than twelve hours before the shrine collapses completely. We need to move."

"But it's only been six days," Kendra said.

"That was an estimate!" Brynn snapped. "Ronodin has proven more powerful than I guessed."

"What are we waiting for?" Seth demanded. "Let's go!"

The five stood up and hurried to the back door. They hadn't even taken off their coats when they came in, and they still had all their gear; there was no packing to be done. Grandma watched them, reluctance and worry in her eyes.

"Don't worry, we'll be back," Seth promised.

Grandma only sighed.

Seth gave a little wave and left, shutting the door behind him. He had to jog to catch up with the others. They set a brisk pace, making a beeline for the shrine.

They didn't even hesitate at the edge of the trees. Together, they plunged into the sinister darkness.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>

I know I promised I would never take so long between chapters again, but I wasn't slacking, I was just working on something else. If you haven't read my Christmas-themed one-shot yet, I suggest you do to make up for my slowness in updating ^^ The next chapter will involve more action, and probably a battle with Ronodin. I hesitate to say final battle, because it really isn't, but I've said too much. Anyway, I hope you liked it, and all comments are appreciated!


	10. Into the Fairy Realm

**Chapter Ten**

The thin crescent moon was reaching the height of its ascent when the group emerged from the forest. Seth slowed gratefully to a walk, panting from their jog through the woods. If he had thought the forest at Fablehaven was creepy before, it was even creepier by night.

He stopped when he caught sight of the pond.

He had visited the shrine before, most notably during the shadow plague when they were forced to evacuate the house, and he had always thought of it was a quiet place of nature at its purest. Now, in the near-black night, it looked haunted.

"Are we going to have trouble with the naiads?" he asked nervously.

"I don't know," Kendra replied. "They're probably not going to like a bunch of humans crossing their lake."

"We'll have to go in two boats, maybe three," Warren guessed. "They aren't very big if I remember correctly."

"It would be unwise to leave one person in a boat by themselves," Brynn cautioned. "The naiads would undoubtedly label them an easy target."

"I can handle it," Warren said, dismissing her concerns.

But when they halted at the edge of the dock, it became apparent that transportation would not be a concern. For the lake had all but dried up; a small portion, not even a fifth of it, remained. What little water was left was darkened and muddy. Even from here, Seth could see a few naiads sitting with their heads and tails above the water. They hissed when they saw the five of them, but from their little puddle they could do nothing about it.

"Do we just walk across?" Seth asked uneasily.

Warren shrugged. "Guess so."

One by one they jumped down from the dock into the lakebed. They squelched across it, the mud sucking at their shoes. It was slow going, but eventually they arrived at the island.

One of the naiads called to them: "If you're going to invade the shrine, you'd best be planning to fix this mess!"

"Ungrateful little…" Kendra muttered.

"Have faith, all will soon be put right in the Fairy Realm," Brynn shouted back to the naiads.

Kendra and Brynn stepped confidently onto the dying grass of the island, but Seth, Warren, and Elise hesitated.

"It's probably a bit late to ask, but am I about to turn into a giant dandelion?" Warren asked.

"The Fairy Queen is in no condition to terminate trespassers," Brynn assured him. "Regardless, she would not annihilate her handmaiden or her own daughter."

Seth cautiously put one foot on the island and, when he didn't simultaneously combust, quickly followed it with the other. Warren and Elise, too, made it onto the shrine without incident.

Kendra led the four to the center of the island. A tiny fair statue stood there, just as she had described, but the stream had dried up and the silver bowl was tarnished. It reminded Seth of a garden someone had forgotten to tend.

"Guess Ronodin really messed things up," he observed.

Brynn nodded solemnly. "I imagine things will be as bad or worse within the realm itself."

"How exactly do we get in?" Elise asked.

"I need to create a portal. I will try to use mainly my own power, but some must come from the shrine itself. If not enough energy remains…" Brynn's unfinished sentence hung in the air, an unspoken threat.

"Can Kendra help somehow?" wondered Warren.

Seth glanced at his sister, who flinched at Warren's suggestion.

"Unfortunately not," Brynn said. "When the realm fell, her fairykind energy dwindled as it was used up by her body. It will return if we restore the realm, but not until then."

"You mean you knew?" Kendra asked.

"Your inner light shines on the magical spectrum. As soon as it began to fade, those whose eyes can perceive such light could tell," Brynn explained.

"Oh." Kendra looked down at her feet.

"She's still an awesome fighter," Seth said quickly. "She'll totally be able to take down Ronodin."

"Of course," Brynn said. She seemed surprised that he had even brought it up. "I have never doubted her courage. But perhaps we should proceed?"

"Oh. Okay."

Brynn raised her hands and began chanting in a strange language. Seth assumed it was the secret fairy language, because Kendra seemed to follow what she was saying. As the unicorn spoke, her hands began to glow white, as if all the light in the area was converging on them. The sword in her belt, too, sparkled with the colors of the rainbow. For a moment Seth thought it had turned into a unicorn horn, but then it was a sword again. After what seemed like quite a long while, a beam of light extended from Brynn's palms to the ground and a swirling, pearly vortex formed.

Brynn was breathing heavily by the time she finished, but she gestured proudly at the ground. "Behold, a portal to the Fairy Realm. Hurry, for already Ronodin's darkness is eating away at the magic."

Wasting no time, Warren squared his shoulders. "Here goes nothing!" he shouted as he plugged his nose and jumped into the portal.

Elise followed, much less dramatically. Kendra went after her, and then just Seth and Brynn stood on the surface.

"Go," the unicorn urged. "I will close the portal behind us."

Seth took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He hoped his status as a shadow charmer wouldn't affect the portal's magic. _It won't hurt a bit, _he thought. _Probably._

And he jumped down into nothingness.

* * *

><p>Kendra hit the ground with a jolt, her knees smacking onto a hard surface. Before she could orient herself, she was grabbed and dragged aside. Seth materialized beside her moments later, landing with a thud. Looking above, Kendra saw a swirling vortex gradually shrink. When it was no more than a foot wide, Brynn appeared and descended slowly. The portal winked out of existence behind her.<p>

Once she landed, Brynn collapsed to her knees, wheezing heavily. She waved away Kendra's concerned look, saying, "I'm fine. Just give me a moment."

Kendra took this opportunity to look around. They had arrived in a massive chamber (she hesitated to say 'room,' because she was fairly certain her entire house could fit in here with room to spare) that was perfectly circular. Everything appeared to be made of marble, from the floor to the walls to the ceiling. Whoever had built this place certainly had a lot of money to throw around, she thought. Or, considering they were in the Fairy Realm, perhaps it was made with magic. That would explain the threads of color spinning elegantly through the white stone that seemed to flicker and wriggle like worms.

But despite the intense beauty that was obvious in every aspect of the room, something seemed off. Colors that were supposed to shine appeared muted; the marble was in dire need of a good polishing. And the whole room seemed shrouded in shadow, that awkward dimness between bright enough to see in and dark enough to need additional light. A heavy silence hung in the air.

After a while, Brynn sat up. "I am all right now," she said. "The dark magic shielding the Realm was greater than I'd anticipated."

"So this is really it?" Warren asked.

Brynn nodded. Standing up, she said, "In better days the Realm sparkles with the light of life itself. We stand now in the Hall of Portals, which links the Fairy Realm to each of the Fairy Queen's shrines. The only reason it is not fully contaminated is because the darkness is flowing through it, into the shrines, and out into the mortal world. Ones the shrines collapse, though, the Fairy Realm will be completely lost."

"Yeah, so you've mentioned," Seth said. "So let's get a move on."

They passed through an archway out of the hall and walked down a deserted corridor. They saw no one, and the only sounds were their footsteps echoing off of the stone walls.

Only a few minutes had passed when Seth suddenly halted. "Do you hear that?"

The others stopped and stared at him. Kendra voiced what everyone else was thinking: "Hear what?"

"Figures," Seth muttered. "It's a bunch of gibberish, mostly, but it sounds like a lot of people are whispering."

"We are near the infirmary. Perhaps some are still alive…?" Hope filled Brynn's voice.

"I've never heard fairies before, just wraiths and ghouls and stuff like that," Seth said uncertainly. Kendra shuddered, hoping they weren't about to encounter dark creatures.

"We should investigate," Elise suggested.

"But what about Bracken?" Kendra protested.

"I need to know what has become of my people," Brynn said.

"But you said we only have twelve hours!" Kendra exclaimed. She couldn't believe that Bracken's own sister wanted to abandon their mission.

"Peace, Kendra, I will not give up on my brother," Brynn said soothingly as if she had read Kendra's thoughts.

"Plus, this might give us some clues as to where Ronodin is," Warren pointed out.

Kendra sighed. "Fine. Go on."

They quickened their pace as they progressed down the corridor. Seth reported that the voices were growing louder.

"Can you make out any words?" Warren asked.

"Some," Seth replied. "Darkness. Evil. Prince. Ronodin. Mainly darkness, though."

"Ronodin has been here," Brynn said grimly.

A few moments later the infirmary came into view. Kendra could only identify it by the word 'infirmary' engraved in the secret fairy language on the wall. Any other evidence had been blasted to pieces. There had once been an archway, probably, but some of the ceiling had caved in. A thin black line went all around the entryway; it would be impossible to get in without crossing over it. Debris lay scattered on both sides of the line, but nothing actually touched the border between the corridor and the room beyond. Kendra guessed that some explosion had taken place on the line.

Warren stooped to examine the remains. "That must have been quite a blast," he remarked.

"That was where the barrier stood," Brynn explained. "The Fairy Queen's final stand."

"Hey, don't talk like that. You make it sound like we've already lost," Seth said.

"Maybe we have," Elise said doubtfully. She pointed ahead into the infirmary.

Kendra steeled herself for horrors and looked past the debris.

It looked like someone had pressed the pause button and life had ground to a halt. After the emptiness of the hallways, the infirmary was a bit of a surprise. Unicorns, fairies, and other creatures of light filled the place to the brim. Some lay on cots, some tended the injured. Some appeared to be moving around, headed for one job or another. Some stared at the collapsed entryway with petrified horror. But all were motionless.

"Ronodin," Brynn cursed. "Come. We must hurry."

They entered the infirmary. As she crossed over the black line, Kendra trembled. The darkness was much more potent in here than outside.

"I'm no unicorn, but even I can tell this is evil," Warren muttered.

"The voices are louder now," Seth said. "I can hear them more clearly."

"What are they saying?" Kendra whispered.

"Not much. Their thoughts are… slow, I guess. They can tell we're here. They want us to save them."

"I want us to rescue them, too," Warren said. "I'd rather not join the frozen-in-time statue garden."

"Such a fate would—"

But whatever Brynn was beginning to say was abruptly cut off.

Alarmed, Kendra looked back at the unicorn. "Brynn-?" But then she saw that Bracken's sister had frozen in place, just like everyone around them.

"Well, that's not good," Warren said, the understatement of the day.

Seth touched the unicorn's arm. "She says… She says to go on. Ronodin is nearby. The Memory Glass is our only hope. The fate of the Fairy Realm rests on our shoulders. Good luck."

"That's encouraging," Elise muttered. "What now?"

"What else can we do? We've got to find Ronodin and defeat him," Kendra said firmly.

"Couldn't he be, like, right here? What if he's been following us this whole time?" Seth asked. He glanced around.

"Or Brynn could have been overwhelmed by the presence of dark magic, not necessarily by Ronodin himself," Warren pointed out. "Either way, we're wasting time. Let's go."

Seth glanced at a human-sized fairy behind him as if she had just spoken to him. Apparently she had, because he said, "They can sense Ronodin. They can lead us to him."

"Who would have thought you'd get to use your shadow charmer abilities in the land of fairies and unicorns?" Kendra teased.

"She says to hurry, that Ronodin grows stronger every moment, yadda yadda yadda," Seth added. Then he blushed.

"What?" Kendra demanded.

"Uh, apparently it's no secret that Bracken's got a major crush on you," he said mischievously.

Kendra groaned and punched her brother playfully, but inside she was rather pleased.

"Can we get moving?" Warren asked.

"Right. Sorry."

Seth took the lead, following the voices of the frozen fairies, or so Kendra assumed. They picked their way through the infirmary, stepping around immobilized figures left and right. Kendra found herself studying each motionless face, but she recognized none of them. What did she hope – or fear – to see? The Fairy Queen? Bracken? She didn't know anyone else who lived here. And yet she couldn't stop herself from looking. If they succeeded in expelling Ronodin from Bracken's body, the Fairy Realm and basically the entire world would be saved. But if they failed, each and every one of these people would die.

But no pressure, right?

Though it appeared there was no one to hear them, the four moved slowly and quietly. They spoke sparingly, and when they did it was only in whispers. Except for the occasional clank of a sword, the silence was absolute.

"Hey, Kendra," Seth said after a few minutes. "The Fairy Queen wants to talk to you."

Kendra gulped. She had only seen the Fairy Queen once; before that they had only communicated from a distance. She preferred to think of the Fairy Queen as a mysterious, aloof, and powerful figure. Would seeing her in a frozen state ruin Kendra's image of her forever? But she swallowed her concerns and said to Seth, "Where is she?"

He led them through the maze of beds and bodies to a corner near the entrance. Kendra didn't recognize the Fairy Queen right away. The last time she had seen her, the Queen had glowed with an intense light and had radiated power. Now, Kendra saw, she was just as ordinary as Brynn or the other unicorns and fairies. She was kneeling, facing the entryway, her palms on the ground. Kendra guessed she had been engaged in somehow defending the infirmary.

Unsure what else to do, Kendra knelt. "Your Majesty," she murmured respectfully.

It was a little strange with Seth translating rather than the Fairy Queen speaking directly in Kendra's mind, but it worked.

"My handmaiden," Seth said on behalf of the Fairy Queen. "I will not detain you long, for I know your time is limited, but I wanted to tell you how proud I am. When I was too blind to accept the truth and when even my oldest daughter Brynn would have given up, you persevered. You obtained an artifact everyone thought lost millennia ago and you have withstood Ronodin's dark influence. Though nothing was required of you, you rose to a challenge many would have considered impossible. So thank you, Kendra Sorenson. Now go and save my son."

"Yes, Your Majesty," Kendra whispered. She dared not say how even now they were uncertain of their ability to defeat Ronodin, particularly now that Brynn had been incapacitated, but there was nothing they could do but move on.

And move on they did, back through the maze of frozen chaos, following the voices only Seth could hear. The infirmary seemed to extend forever, but at last they reached a clear space near the back.

All their attempts at stealth had been in vain, Kendra suddenly realized.

He was waiting for them, of course. He stood calmly, his hands folded behind his back as if he was politely welcoming them into his home.

Kendra wouldn't have minded his high-and-mighty stance if not for one thing. If it was the darkened Bracken standing before them, flaunting his apparent victory, it would have been one thing. But Ronodin had the nerve to take on Bracken's normal appearance. Kendra wasn't sure if she could attack someone who looked like her friend.

Warren drew his ancient sword from Lost Mesa. Elise pulled a dagger from her belt and Seth had his hand on the hilt of Vasilis, the sword he had claimed from the Totem Wall. Kendra had but one weapon, which was nestled in its velvet box in her coat pocket. She hesitated to draw it, though. She _knew_ it was Ronodin she was looking at, but she couldn't bring herself to harm him.

"So you have made it this far," Bracken – _Ronodin_, Kendra reminded herself – said. "I thought you would have given up ages ago. But even in my day I suppose humans were resourceful."

"Get out of Bracken's body," Seth demanded, taking the direct approach.

"The human race has grown far more impudent, though," Ronodin went on, as if speaking to himself. "Years ago – millennia ago – magical creatures were revered, feared, and worshiped. Humans knew their place as the lesser species. I intend to recreate that glorious era."

Kendra couldn't help herself from crying, "By destroying the world?"

Ronodin's nostrils flared and his eyes flashed red. "I will simply remind mortals of their place."

"Yeah, by killing us all," Seth shouted angrily.

"Enough." Ronodin waved his hand and the four froze in place – rather like the others in the infirmary, poised for battle. "I have waited millennia for this day, and I will not let minor annoyances get in my way."

Kendra strained against the spell. If only she could reach into her pocket…! But no, Ronodin's magic was too strong. As the dark unicorn stalked away, she felt blackness pushing in on the edges of her sight. She tried to fight that, too, but it was no use. Without her fairykind power, she was just an ordinary girl.

_Maybe Grandma's right_, she thought. _Seth and I are just kids. Really, really lucky kids._

And with that realization, Kendra stopped fighting and quickly lost consciousness.

* * *

><p>When Kendra woke, she was alone in a room she didn't recognize. She was lying on the floor and ached all over. She had a pounding headache and a bitter taste filled her mouth.<p>

A voice rang through the room. "I know the aftereffects of dark magic can be unpleasant, but trust me, the worst is yet to come."

_Ronodin!_

Kendra sat up abruptly and her surroundings whirled around her. "Who's there?" she called, hoping she sounded braver than she felt.

"No one is there, Kendra. Don't you trust what your eyes tell you?"

She stood up and turned slowly in a circle. The room was small, maybe eight feet square. There was no sign of a door or anything that could serve as an exit. Judging by the pale marble walls she was still in the Fairy Realm, so she supposed anything was possible. Maybe unicorns could teleport from place to place. Maybe they just floated through the walls. But there was no way an ordinary human could escape.

"Where are my friends?" she demanded.

"They are frozen in time in the infirmary, where they will remain until my plans are complete."

She sighed in relief. They were safe for the moment – safer than she was, it seemed. Of course, it wouldn't matter if Ronodin destroyed the world.

"What do you want?" she asked.

A dark chuckle echoed off the walls. "You needn't do anything, Kendra. There is just one thing I want your precious Bracken to see before I completely take over his body."

Ronodin's words sounded ominous, but Kendra felt a surge of hope. Impossible as it seemed, they still had a chance. She still had the Memory Glass in her coat pocket; she just needed a chance to use it.

"You don't scare me," she bluffed. "You're just a disembodied voice."

Without warning the room went dark. Before, it had been shrouded in shadow just like the rest of the Fairy Realm, but now it was pitch black. Kendra raised a hand an inch in front of her face but still could see nothing.

"That's all you've got?" she scoffed, but inside she wondered if she should really be baiting him. Something told her she didn't want to see what Ronodin was capable of doing to her.

A voice sounded directly behind her and, unable to help herself, Kendra jumped. "Just a voice, am I?" Ronodin hissed. "Tell me, could a voice do this?"

Air whooshed past Kendra's ears, but there was no other indication she was moving until she slammed painfully into a wall.

"Or maybe this?"

Kendra tensed, but nothing happened. Just as she relaxed, though, something crashed into her legs and she tumbled to the ground. She flailed around, but in the blackness she couldn't see what had hit her. At least she didn't seem to be injured. Her hand went to her pocket. Hopefully the box had cushioned the Memory Glass. It seemed she was going to take a beating.

"Why are you doing this?" she demanded as an unseen force grabbed her by the ankles and hung her from the ceiling. Blood rushed to her face.

Ronodin's voice came from somewhere to her left. "Your dear unicorn's spirit is near crushed," he sneered, "but I thought I would hasten the process."

"What? How?"

"You see, Bracken has been futilely attempting to resist me. First the Final Sanctuary, then the constant struggle for control. He even tried to attack me with my own power! He has some noble idea that he is fighting for a great cause." The dark unicorn's voice dripped with contempt. "He needs a bit of, ah, convincing that he has completely, totally, and utterly lost."

Kendra twisted, but her invisible bonds held her fast. "What does that have to do with me?" she asked.

Ronodin's hand unexpectedly stroked her cheek. Kendra recoiled from the icy touch.

"My dear Kendra, you don't seem to realize how important you are," Ronodin said softly. He seemed mystified. "The Fairy Queen, the Fairy King, his sisters… I threatened them all, but nothing provoked a response from him. Until I mentioned _you_."

Ronodin's nails raked down the side of her face and then his hand was gone. The pressure on Kendra's legs vanished and she fell headfirst to the floor only to be magically righted and set down gently.

"At first I was shocked," Ronodin went on. "After all, how could a mere girl of average quality attract the attention of a _unicorn?_ But I quickly stopped trying to unravel the crazed mind of the hornless unicorn and began thinking of how I could use this to my advantage. And then it hit me."

Kendra stood warily, waiting for Ronodin to continue. She backed away from where she thought the voice was until she hit the opposite wall.

Suddenly, a light flickered into life. Kendra flinched as she saw the darkened version of Bracken – _Ronodin_, she corrected herself sternly – standing before her, a red flame flickering in his hand. He leaned toward her, and Kendra wanted to move away but, backed up against the wall, there was nothing she could do.

"And so, Kendra, do you have any last words?" Ronodin whispered in her ear. "Last words for you _and_ your hornless unicorn friend. For I have no doubt that it will utterly crush him to see his own body destroy you."

A sudden chill went through Kendra. Surely he didn't mean he was going to _kill_ her. But no, destroy pretty much had one meaning. Summoning her courage, she thrust her hand in her pocket, opened the velvet box, and clutched the Memory Glass.

"Not if I destroy you first," she muttered defiantly.

Ronodin's eyes widened in fear as Kendra pulled the circular Glass from her pocket. Then his eyes glowed red and he began chanting under his breath. The fire in his hand turned black and flared bigger and brighter. He unleashed the spell, but it was too late – he was starting at himself, reflected back at him from the depths of the Memory Glass.

_Blue eyes, not red_.

Black flames crackled and hissed, spreading across the marble floor.

_Silvery-blond hair, not black._

Kendra yelped, trying to skip out of the way, but the fire grew higher, up to her knees.

_A kind, open face, not twisted with evil._

She squeezed along the wall to a corner and hoped for a quick, merciful end.

_Bracken felt a surge of energy – his _true_ power, not darkness. He pushed against Ronodin's spirit with all his might._

Kendra clapped her hands against her ears, but the action did nothing to muffle the horrific, unearthly scream that came from Bracken. No, not from Bracken himself, but from the spirit inside him.

_Pain. Unbearable pain. Filling his entire being._

Shadows streamed away from Bracken like water running down a slope.

_And yet, when the pain faded away, a sense of newborn strength began to grow._

The black flames vanished, leaving the floor unscathed. Shards of glass littered the ground, though Kendra didn't recall dropping the mirror.

_The spirit was gone. He was himself again._

Words flashed across Kendra's mind as if someone had whispered them to her brain. _'You have not yet won.'_

All at once the day's strenuous events seemed to catch up to her. Or was it something more sinister? She couldn't tell.

Once again, the world went dark.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>

After ten chapters of trying to evict Ronodin, he's finally gone! Or so it seems… No, no one else is going to get possessed, but rest assured, this is not the end. Up next is the touching reunion scene that I have been picturing in my mind since at least five chapters ago. I can't wait!


	11. The Adventure Continues

**Chapter Eleven**

"Kendra?"

Someone was calling to her, trying to wake her up. Was it time for breakfast? She didn't usually oversleep. No, wait, she wasn't at home. She was in the Fairy Realm. Memories came rushing back all at once.

"Kendra, please be all right."

That voice… She knew that voice! She opened her eyes and saw a familiar face leaning over her. Pale blue eyes gazed into her own – blue eyes, not red.

"Bracken?"

"Kendra." Relief flooded his voice, the same relief that Kendra was feeling herself. He gave her a quick hug. "I thought Ronodin had gotten you somehow."

Kendra sat up carefully. She felt battered and bruised, but not seriously hurt. But _she_ hadn't been the one at risk. "Gotten _me?_" she repeated. "I wasn't the one possessed by a dark unicorn!"

Realizing something, she looked Bracken over carefully. He certainly _looked_ like himself – light blond hair, pale silver-blue eyes. His clothes were a little singed, but aside from that there was nothing out of the ordinary about them. She couldn't afford to be too careful, though. Ronodin had fooled them before.

Bracken noticed her scrutiny. "It's really me, I promise," he said with a smile.

"I want to trust you, but I can't be sure," Kendra said apologetically.

"Can't you feel the absence of darkness?" Bracken gestured to the room around them. It was the same exit-less room as before. The menacing shadows were gone, but Kendra couldn't perceive anything about the "aura" or whatever.

"I've never been good at that sort of thing," Kendra admitted.

"I suppose we'll have to wait until Brynn can vouch for me," Bracken said, but he didn't seem concerned. If anything, he seemed content to sit there on the floor and wait.

To Kendra, the window- and door-less room was beginning to feel claustrophobic. "I don't suppose you know how to get out of here?" she asked.

Bracken shook his head. "Ronodin veiled his actions – my actions, I guess, though I wasn't really in control – from me. I didn't realize what he was doing until he chose to show me."

"What was it like?" Kendra asked. She didn't want to pry, but the curiosity was eating at her and if they had to wait they may as well talk.

Bracken sighed, and with that sigh it struck Kendra how old he was. He sounded weary as he said, "It was like nothing you can imagine. You're there, fully conscious – you can feel the presence of your body like it always is, but every time you try to move nothing happens. It's like your paralyzed, except you know that the other spirit is there running the show. You feel yourself move, hear yourself talk, but it's not really you. You begin to forget who you are…" His voice cracked on the last sentence.

Unable to help herself, Kendra reached over to comfort him, but she couldn't think what to do. Eventually she just put her hand on his knee, which seemed lame, but Bracken seemed to appreciate the gesture because he smiled weakly at her.

"It's kind of like the inscription on the Memory Glass," Kendra murmured. "'As thee gaze into this Glass, thee shall see thy true face and know thy true self.'"

"Yes, that's exactly it," Bracken said. "When you pulled out the mirror, I didn't know why, but I felt a spark of hope. Maybe because the mirror seemed to worry Ronodin. But then when I looked into it… It was like I found a reserve of strength I didn't know I had. It was like, what's this other spirit doing in my body? I was able to – I could throw him out and regain control."

Kendra suddenly remembered something. "The Memory Glass!"

She crawled across the floor until she found what she was looking for – shards of glass. A splotch of something gold lay on the ground near the shards. Cautiously she picked up one of the pieces of glass. It was surprisingly sharp and as she held it in her hand it cut her thumb slightly. She ignored this for the moment and, against her better judgment, peered into the shard's crystal depths. But she saw nothing but her own face staring anxiously back at her. The glass was lifeless in her hands. She felt nothing like the gentle hum of power she'd experienced before.

"What are you looking at?" Bracken had moved over to join her.

"What's left of the Memory Glass," Kendra said. She picked up the other shards one by one but no trace of magic remained. "I didn't think it was going to break when I used it."

"Perhaps Ronodin was too strong a spirit for it to dislodge and it used its last bit of energy to defeat him," Bracken suggested.

"Maybe." Kendra turned one piece over and over in her hand. She couldn't shake Ronodin's last words from her thoughts. _You have not yet won._

Bracken noticed her cut thumb. "You're bleeding," he said softly, taking her hand in his.

"It's nothing," Kendra said. She tried to pull away, but Bracken wouldn't let go.

"Just let me try," he urged. Seeing that he wasn't going to give up, Kendra gave in.

Bracken's lips moved silently and his hands glowed with a pearly light. But when he let go of Kendra's hand, her thumb remained the same as before.

Bracken looked away. "Pathetic," he muttered angrily.

Kendra hastily wiped her bleeding thumb on her jeans. "Hey, it's all right. It's just a little cut. I'm fine."

Without turning around, Bracken said. "Exactly. It's just a little cut. I should be able to heal it as easily as look at it, but I can't."

His voice sounded strained, as if he were trying very hard to retain his composure. Kendra sought to comfort him.

"Well, you've just been possessed by the spirit of a dark unicorn. I'm sure that takes a lot out of you," she said.

Bracken stared resolutely away, but Kendra saw his jaw clench. When he spoke again, he seemed angrier. "You don't understand," he said sharply. "Wile Ronodin was in control, he used my body to produce his own magic – dark magic. That's how he was able to take over the Fairy Realm, by using me to amplify his power. I can't describe what it was like to look inside for my own reservoir of energy and find only a black hole. When I touched it, it was exhilarating, but it was terrifying that that amount of power excited me. And now that it's gone, I feel drained – drained of everything, light or dark. I don't have an ounce of magical energy left in me."

Losing her patience, Kendra retorted, "Well, neither do I!"

Finally Bracken turned back to her, looking confused. "What?"

"When Ronodin took over the Fairy Realm, I lost my fairykind powers," Kendra explained. "Not all at once – I didn't notice until I couldn't see in the dark anymore. But Brynn said that it will replenish itself like the human body makes up for lost blood, so now that Ronodin's gone, I guess I'll start filling up again. I'm sure it'll work like that for you, too."

Bracken looked her over until his scrutiny made her feel uncomfortable. Finally he said, "You're right. Your brilliant glow has diminished significantly. Not entirely, though, and it returns by degrees every second. Given how you used to shine like a beacon on the magical spectrum, I can't believe I didn't notice."

"Well, you did have other things on your mind," Kendra teased. "Literally."

He ignored her jest. "You fascinated me from the day we met," he murmured. "It had been years since mother had chosen a handmaiden and I was curious. And I knew that anyone my mother chose to share her magic with had to be someone special."

Kendra froze as Bracken leaned in closer. She could see the wonder in his silver-blue eyes even now as he spoke of her. Her heart pounded against her ribs. He was going to kiss her!

A door materialized out of nowhere on the opposite wall and opened with a bang. A familiar voice called from outside, "See, I _told_ you!"

"It is impressive that you sensed a door when I could not," Brynn said to Seth. "Likely it was shielded by dark magic that your shadow charmer abilities were able to detect."

The two entered the room, followed by Warren and Elise, who both had their hands on the hilts of their weapons. Brynn halted just inside the room when she caught sight of Bracken. He and Kendra quickly scooted apart.

"Brother," Brynn whispered.

Slowly Bracken stood and cautiously approached her. "Brynn."

Kendra, too, stood, and went to stand near her brother.

"Is Ronodin gone?" Seth asked in a low voice.

"I think so," Kendra whispered back.

"There's only one way to find out," Warren muttered. His eyes never left Bracken, as if he considered the unicorn a threat.

Then, just as she had what felt like a lifetime ago, Brynn touched her index finger to Bracken's forehead. Kendra held her breath, but no explosion came, no loud crack echoed throughout the room, Bracken's eyes didn't glow red, and Brynn didn't collapse. The unicorns just stood still, staring deep into each other's eyes. They were both so focused that Kendra guessed they were communicating mentally or whatever unicorns did.

At long last Brynn removed her finger from Bracken's forehead and announced, "It is truly him!"

At this the tension in the room decreased dramatically, but Warren kept his hand on his sword. "The spirit is really gone?" he asked, suspicious.

No doubt he was thinking of how Ronodin had pretended to be Bracken when they had encountered him in the infirmary.

"Not a trace of darkness remains," Brynn assured him. Her eyes flickered to Bracken's for a split second; he shook his head ever so slightly in response. It happened so quickly that Kendra wasn't sure if she'd imagined it.

"Peace, Warren," Bracken said soothingly. "You needn't worry. I am in full control of myself now, thanks to Kendra."

With a noncommittal grunt, Warren took his hand off the hilt of his sword.

Elise said to Kendra, "The Memory Glass worked?"

"Yeah. It broke afterward, though." Kendra indicated the scattered fragments of glass on the ground.

Brynn stooped to examine the shards. "A shame," she remarked. "The mirror could be restored, but the enchantment in the glass has been lost."

"We just leave it here, then?" Warren asked.

"It seems the best option," she replied. To Bracken and Kendra she explained, "This is a room Ronodin wove out of dark magic and connected to the Fairy Realm. The enchantment is weak, though, so it will vanish when we leave. What is left of the Memory Glass will vanish with it. Come; let us return to the infirmary. Everyone is anxious to see that the dark unicorn is truly gone."

Some emotion crossed Bracken's face – fear, worry, regret? – but it was gone as soon as it came. "Sure, let's go," he said. "I wish to apologize to Mother for what has happened here."

The six left the tiny room. There was no sudden burst of light or noise, but when Kendra looked back a few seconds later the door was gone. Bracken and Brynn took the lead, whispering in the secret fairy language. Elise followed. Warren took up the rear, which left Kendra to walk with her brother.

"What happened after Ronodin froze us?" she asked.

"I'm not really sure what happened at first," Seth answered. "I wasn't self-aware like the fairies and unicorns were. Everything was just black. I remember that Ronodin gloated a little, and then he left. When we woke up – and I still don't know how much later it was – everything was kinda chaotic. No one knew what was going on. We noticed that you were missing right away, and we tried to look for Brynn but everyone else had unfrozen, too, and they were moving around and we had no idea where anything was anymore. Then this massive unicorn – and by unicorn I mean _unicorn_, not their human avatar – stood up. Kendra, this thing was huge. It could make a full-grown elephant run for its mommy. And all of a sudden everyone got quiet and they were all looking at the unicorn, but there was no talking going on. That we could hear, at least. We started whispering about what was going on and we got some dirty looks. Then Brynn came out of nowhere and said the Fairy Queen had given us permission to find you and Bracken and bring you to the infirmary. We got some more nasty looks on the way here. I don't think they like shadow charmers very much."

"Well, this _is_ a realm of light and purity," Kendra pointed out.

"Yeah, but they could at least be politer about it," Seth grumbled.

They walked the rest of the way in silence. When they reached the infirmary, Kendra saw that the archway had been repaired. Inside, it was bursting with life. There were fairies of all shapes, colors, and sizes bustling about. Kendra would have stopped to gawk if not for the icy glares they shot the humans.

"Friendly crowd," Warren remarked.

"It has been a long time since humans were allowed in the Fairy Realm," Bracken said.

A neon pink fairy with translucent wings saw them talking and gasped. She said something to Bracken in the secret fairy language that Kendra thought was unnecessarily rude. Bracken smiled at her apologetically, but she flew off in a huff.

"What's her problem?" Kendra whispered to Brynn.

"Not many magical creatures have taken it upon themselves to learn the tongues of humans," Brynn explained under her breath. "The fairies in particular think it especially vulgar and look down on those who choose to learn."

"Oh." Kendra had thought fairies vain before, but not necessarily contemptuous. Apparently they had a mean streak.

"When we go in, keep your heads down, and don't make eye contact," Bracken advised. "Particularly you, Seth."

"Why not just leave me out here, then?" Seth complained.

"Because your grandmother would probably like you back in one piece," Brynn said flatly.

That ended the discussion.

When they went in, Kendra kept her eyes to the floor as instructed, but she couldn't block out the whispers. Most were directed at her and Seth. They thought she had overstepped her bounds by setting her sights on the Fairy Queen's son. Kendra gritted her teeth at that one and tried not to blush. As far as Seth went, the opinions ranged from that he was an ally of Ronodin's that they had captured to that he was a demon who was controlling the humans and planned to take over the Fairy Realm. Some of the comments were particularly nasty and Kendra was glad her brother couldn't understand them.

Brynn stopped a small green-skinned fairy that was flying past and asked where they might find the Fairy Queen and King. The fairy glanced suspiciously at Seth before replying shortly that they were in a private room in the back. Virtue, Ophelia, and Gardenia were with them.

Kendra glanced at Bracken questioningly.

"My other sisters," he explained.

Brynn thanked the fairy, who muttered something unintelligible and flew away. The crowd seemed to part before them as they made their way to the back of the infirmary. No one seemed to want to brush elbows with the humans.

"I'm sorry I even bothered to come," Seth muttered. Raising his voice slightly, he added, "So sorry we had to save Bracken and your entire realm from Ronodin! We didn't mean to inconvenience you. We'll be leaving soon."

Warren elbowed him in the ribs. "Let's try not to antagonize our hosts lest they decide to incinerate us," he cautioned.

They reached a small chamber built into the corner of the infirmary. A white silk curtain separated it from the rest of the room. Brynn pushed the curtain aside and they entered.

It was a tight squeeze. A small bed took up most of the room. A regal-looking man with a thick gray beard sat in it. Kendra didn't recognize him, but he looked so much like an older version of Bracken that he had to be his father, the Fairy King. An orange-skinned fairy with dragonfly wings perched on his shoulder and three women knelt at his bedside. Kendra recognized the Fairy Queen of course, who was once again giving off her ethereal radiance. She assumed the other three were Bracken's sisters.

To Kendra's surprise, Warren bowed deeply. "Your Majesties," he said respectfully. Kendra, Seth, and Elise followed his lead. Apparently he was serious about not antagonizing anyone.

"Rise," the Fairy Queen ordered. "There is no need for formalities when, against all odds, you have returned my son to me. I must hear the tale of your success, but first, Kendra, would you introduce me to the members of your rescue party?"

Kendra was startled at being addressed directly by the Fairy Queen. "Uh, this is my brother, Seth. He's a shadow charmer. And that's Warren and Elise. They're both Knights of the Dawn. The human Knights, I mean. Not the astrids," she hastily explained. "And of course you already know Bracken and Brynn."

The Fairy Queen nodded and spread her arms wide. "Welcome to my home. It has been centuries since we have hosted humans in the Fairy Realm, and you have the honor of being the first in the new realm."

"It's very… grand," Warren said, which was an understatement.

"Yes, we are quite proud of the work we have accomplished in such a short time. And yet we must keep expanding until all of what was once the demon prison is suitable for creatures of light to dwell in. It will be a task of centuries, possibly millennia, but we are up to the challenge," the Fairy Queen said with a smile.

"The flowers are growing flawlessly and rapidly," the orange fairy chimed in.

"Pardon me, your Majesty, but–" Kendra began awkwardly.

"Ah, forgive me for not introducing them to you," the Fairy Queen said. "These are my daughters, Virtue, Ophelia, and Gardenia –" (she indicated the two women and the orange fairy respectively) "- and my consort." She indicated the Fairy King.

Kendra frowned. She was confused as to why they were exchanging pleasantries when there were more pressing subjects to discuss.

Bracken knelt at the foot of his father's bed. "Father, it gladdens me to see that after all these months you have awakened, though I regret it took such a disaster to bring about your recovery."

"Do not be sorry, my son," the Fairy King said in a deep voice. "For my stupor may have lasted another thousand years and then I would not be here with my people and my family around me once more."

Kendra felt uncomfortable, like they were intruding on a private family occasion. Should they leave? They had no right to see the King in such a weakened state. But then Bracken changed the subject, saving them from further awkwardness.

"The threat is not completely vanquished, though," he said, standing up.

"What?" Kendra thought she must have heard him wrong. How could there still be danger? Surely Ronodin was gone. He couldn't _not_ be, after all they went through.

But Bracken confirmed her worst fears. "He's still out there."

"How?" Elise asked.

"How do you know?" Brynn demanded.

There was something significant in the difference between their questions, but Kendra couldn't put her finger on it.

"The Memory Glass was only designed to remove an invasive spirit – it does nothing to destroy it," Bracken explained. "He still lurks."

Seth glanced around as if expecting the spirit to jump out of the corner. "Not here, right?" he asked.

"The purity of this Realm would not allow him to linger long," the Fairy Queen assured him. "He probably fled through one of the portals. But outside of these halls, he could be anywhere."

Brynn brushed her mother's comments aside. "That's all well and good, but _how do you know?_" she pressed. She fixed Bracken and the Fairy King each with a hard stare. Bracken looked away uncomfortably, but the Fairy King held her gaze. It was like she already knew the answer, but she wanted them to confess. But why the Fairy King?

"I sensed his presence while he was here in this Realm," Brynn went on, "just as we all could. But once Kendra used the Memory Glass I knew he was gone because I detected nothing. So how do you know he's still out there?"

"Brynn, the Memory Glass was designed—"

Brynn cut Bracken off. "I know how it was designed! I read the books! So I also know that it was one of the most reliable of Agad's creations, if not _the_ most unreliable. And yet the certainty I've been detecting from you, Bracken, and from you, Father… You're been keeping secrets."

Bracken took a step closer to her. "Brynn—"

"Bracken. Brynn."

The Fairy King spoke in a low voice, but he used that dangerous tone that parents always use to warn their kids that it's the last straw. Even on millennia-old children it still worked, apparently, because Bracken and Brynn relaxed their aggressive stances and stepped apart. Brynn crossed her arms.

"I know with utmost certainty that Ronodin has not been destroyed because I know his mind better than anyone," the Fairy King said definitively.

"But—" Brynn began, but the Fairy King silenced her with a look.

"Yes, Brynn, there is no stronger mental bond than that of teacher and student, particularly when the student is learning magic. No stronger bond save, perhaps, the bond of kinship."

Kendra's eyes widened as the implications of what the Fairy King was saying sank in. Surely he didn't mean to say he was _related _to… Was it even possible?

The Fairy King continued, "See, as well as you five are attuned to each other's minds, or to your mother's, or to my own – that is how well I know Ronodin's mind."

Evidently it was possible.

A stunned silence filled the room. Then everyone began talking at once.

Virtue, the girl with the long, toffee-colored hair, cried, "How is that—"

The orange fairy perching on the Fairy King's shoulder, Gardenia, was so startled she shot a foot into the air. "We never knew!"

Ophelia, whom Kendra was fairly certain was the oldest after Brynn, exclaimed, "Why didn't you—"

Only the Fairy Queen seemed unsurprised. "It was not a secret at first, just not broadcasted to the world. After Ronodin turned to the darkness, though, we decided it would be best if it wasn't known that our greatest enemy was also the brother of our king," she explained.

Kendra could practically see the wheels turning in Warren's head at the thought of another adventure. "So we know Ronodin's still out there, but how do we get rid of him?" he asked. "It's not like you can cut off his head with a sword or something."

"His horns," Bracken said suddenly.

Everyone stared at him.

He sighed and looked Brynn straight in the eye. "I, too, can sense him," he admitted.

_No!_ A million thoughts raced through Kendra's mind – Ronodin had been too strong; Bracken hadn't looked into the Memory Glass for long enough; they had been too late on their one-week deadline.

Somehow, they had failed.

"But I thought we got him out of you!" Kendra cried.

"No, no, he's gone. I am fully in control," Bracken promised. He flashed her a reassuring smile. "It's just like he left a little piece of himself behind. Just as I am aware of my own horns' existence, state of well-being, and location, I can also sense Ronodin's. His dark magic pulses across the thin thread of connection between himself and his horns. They're like his lifeline. If we destroy his horns, Ronodin will be gone for good."

"So we got to go on another wild goose chase to hunt down his _three_ horns?" Seth asked incredulously. "That sounds like _lots_ of _fun!_" His voice dripped with mock enthusiasm.  
>"Not quite a wild goose chase," Bracken said. "Like with my own, I can detect Ronodin's horns' proximity. The connection is thin right now, so they are probably in the human world. But I could lead you to them."<p>

"That sounds like a—"

Warren was interrupted by the Fairy Queen.

"Absolutely not. I forbid it," she said firmly.

"Now, let's not make a hasty decision," the Fairy King said soothingly. "It's a reasonable suggestion. Let's talk this through."

Ignoring the Fairy King's remarks, the Fairy Queen said to Bracken, "Every time you leave the Fairy Realm, something bad happens. First the incident at Living Mirage, and now this mess with Ronodin. You seem to be a magnet for danger."

"But you can't prohibit me from leaving," Bracken protested. "For centuries before I was captured by the Sphinx I wanted the human world, serving and healing. All unicorns do this for a part of our lives. It is what we exist to do."

"But in the last few months you haven't been doing much wandering, healing, or serving, have you?" the Fairy Queen said, but it didn't really sound like a question.

"The Society of the Evening Star was on the brink of opening the Demon Prison! Even you left the Fairy Realm to confront the demon king," Bracken pointed out.

"And your most recent excursion?"

Bracken was silent.

"Perhaps we have become too directly involved with humans," the Fairy Queen said pointedly.

"So sorry for saving your butts for you," Seth muttered. Kendra didn't even bother to elbow him for that.

"We could have saved the Realm ourselves, eventually," the Fairy Queen said, but she didn't sound very certain.

"You're as bad as the other magical creatures! You want nothing to do with us until you need our help and then after that you forget we exist again." Seth prepared to punctuate this outburst with a spit on the shiny marble floor, but Elise stopped him with a warning look.

"Mother, see sense," said the blonde girl, Ophelia. "These humans have helped us – at their own peril, I might add – and even now, even after you have disrespected them so, they are still willing to help us. If you apologize now, you may still be able to enlist their aid."

The Fairy Queen frowned.

"You are not the only voice of authority in this Realm," the Fairy King reminded her gently.

The Fairy Queen stood, and for the first time Kendra realized how tall she was. Kendra gulped, feeling very insignificant before this being of obviously great power.

"Fine. You may go. Brynn, too, if she must. But when your association with humans turns on you, you will have no one but yourselves to blame."

The Fairy Queen strode from the room in an imperious whirl of embroidered silk.

Kendra breathed a sigh of relief, but new worry set in. She had thought their quest would end with the confrontation of Ronodin, but really the adventure was just beginning.

**Author's Note:**

Dun dun dun! Yes, their quest is far from over. Was the reunion scene sufficiently sappy? I suppose it could have been sappier, but I'm saving that for later :)

Lots of talking going on in this chapter… It seems that no matter how I try to write her, the Fairy Queen turns out like a worrying, overprotective mother to Bracken. I hope that wasn't too weird.

Hopefully the next chapter will be up sooner than this one; after hearing an inspiring speech from a local author I resolve to write at least a page a day! We'll see how long this resolution lasts, but here's hoping.

All comments, critique, and reviews are, as always, greatly appreciated!


	12. Skydiving and Forest Trolls

**Chapter Twelve**

He had been so close to victory.

It had been so close he could practically taste it. All he had needed to do was finish off that girl – after an appropriate amount of torture for good measure – and the hornless unicorn's spirit would have been crushed. Literally. And then he, Ronodin, would have destroyed the Fairy Realm with his bare hands, starting with that brother of his, Oberon.

How had he survived? It irritated Ronodin still, like rubbing salt in his open wounds. The operation had been so carefully planned. While a lesser demon had lured most of the gold-winged idiots away, Gorgrog had sneaked past the other astrids (who, as Ronodin recalled, had been half asleep) and killed the Fairy King. It was so simple! Of course, the plans hadn't been carried out until after his own death, and the demon king's being imprisoned in Zzyzx certainly hadn't been on the agenda, but at least the Fairy King was out of the picture. Or so they had thought. But _no_, the old fool had managed to construct the Final Sanctuary, and that had kept him alive, barely. It would have been a great pleasure for Ronodin to kill him now, for real this time.

Next he would have struck down the Fairy Queen. Oh, how glorious it would have been to finish her while she waited helplessly, trapped in the deep fog of darkness. To see the Fairy Queen rendered immobile and useless would have been a great thing in itself, of course. Third, he would have targeted his former apprentice. He had never gotten proper revenge for her little trick during the war. The _nerve_ of her, creeping into his mind and stealing his strategies! It was because of her that the fairy army had been able to intercept the demon horde and begin the seven-day stalemate of a siege that eventually culminated in the battle between himself and Oberon. Brynn had, indirectly, brought about his death.

Ronodin then would have eliminated the rest of the royal family. Virtue, Gardenia, and Ophelia had done nothing to offend him personally, but Bracken had cared deeply for them and that alone was enough to deserve execution at his hands. If he were in a particularly vengeful mood he may have also killed the humans Brynn had brought into the Fairy Realm. There had certainly been no humans in the immortal realm when _he_ was alive. He couldn't comprehend why the Fairy Queen had condescended to share her power with that girl, Kendra Sorenson. Surely she knew the girl was bound to do what all mortals did best: die. What a waste of power! Sure, magical creatures could die, too (and by this point Ronodin would have proved it six times over), but humans lived such a short time it was amusing. Ronodin had considered sparing the dark boy; he was young and could have been shaped into a talented shadow charmer. He would have made a useful ally.

As for the rest of the inhabitants of the Fairy Realm… As far as Ronodin was concerned, they just could have winked out of existence with the rest of the Realm when he was done with it. See, as soon as he had reciprocated properly for past wrongs, Ronodin would have returned to the Hall of Portals and destroyed the doorways one by one until only one remained. He would exit the Fairy Realm through this portal and terminate it from the outside. Then, when the Fairy Realm was completely cut off from the human world, it would cease to exist.

After this, Ronodin had had some grand plans to open the demon prison and once again wreak havoc on the human world. He would have been the most powerful entity in existence. It was the perfect plan – the chances of failure had been slim!

Clearly, he hadn't thought of the tenacity of the fairykind girl.

Sharing magic – who had ever heard of such a thing? Yes, the Fairy Queen had done it in the past, but Ronodin had always viewed it as one of her weak points. Neither the Fairy Queen nor Oberon seemed to appreciate absolute power. Obviously they didn't feel the desire to bend and shape the very fabric of the world with their bare hands. No, they just liked to keep all that power bottled up inside. Unless they were sharing it with their lessers, of course.

Shaking with fury, Ronodin let loose a silent scream of rage.

He no longer even had a body to channel his magic through! Of all the impossible feats the humans had managed, it was the acquisition of the Memory Glass that puzzled him most. It _must_ have been the Memory Glass that the girl had used against him, for he'd been shoved out of the hornless unicorn's mind abruptly and quite forcibly, but he couldn't begin to fathom how they'd gotten their hands on it. He had searched for it himself for many months before deciding to execute on his plan. He'd needed to make sure, of course, that the Knights of the Dawn (either set of Knights, really) couldn't have pulled out of nowhere the one weapon that could have defeated him. He had investigated claim after claim of the Glass's whereabouts, each more unreasonable than the last. When he had looked into the most likely candidate, a wealthy, eccentric, and recently deceased mirror collector, he had turned the entire mansion inside out (for there were some things a spirit could do without magic) and found nothing. The Memory Glass, he had assumed, was long destroyed, just as Agad had claimed.

_How?_ If Ronodin ever got his hands on those humans again, he would torture the answer out of them before he killed them.

And so, it was a very irritated spirit that left the Fairy Realm just moments after being removed from the body he had been in. Once again insubstantial, Ronodin fled to the Hall of Portals, chose a gate at random, and threw himself into the human world. He noted with relief that he had not arrived at Fablehaven, because he didn't think he could take another reminder of his downfall at the moment. In fact, he didn't care at all where he ended up. He needed some time to think and plan his next move.

For the first time in many centuries, Ronodin feared for his life. He had been confident in his immortality for quite a while, believing that none could discover and destroy his horns and thus his spirit. But now it seemed likely that they _would_ be able to track down his horns.

Ronodin could sense the connection between himself and Bracken. It was like a thread was strung between their minds. Other threads connected them to their respective horns. He could even sense those belonging to the other unicorn to some extent, but not nearly as well as Bracken could surely sense his. So there was nothing for him to exploit there. Nor could he stop them from finding his horns; as a spirit without a body, he had no substance and could not move them to a safer place.

No, he couldn't move his horns, but he could adjust the mental connection. If he made it so Bracken would track his horns in a certain order, then he, Ronodin, could be lying in wait when they came to the third. Yes, his third horn would be last. It was, after all, the best place to stage an ambush, particularly for a spirit who could traverse great distances in moments.

So he would lead them to his horns in order… first, second, and third. And if the traps at the first two didn't get them… By the time they got to the third – well, there was more than one way to exploit this mental bond.

* * *

><p>"Thirty minutes to arrival," Aaron Stone announced over the plane's intercom.<p>

After leaving the Fairy Realm, the six of them (Kendra, Seth, Warren, Elise, Bracken, and Brynn) had returned to Fablehaven to plan their next move. With Warren's help, Bracken had pinpointed the location of Ronodin's first horn to be in an abandoned temple in a jungle in Brazil. So they had chartered the Knights' private pilot (who had also flown them to Wyrmroost and Obsidian Waste in the past) and now they were somewhere over the vast rainforests of South America.

"Ready for our traditional debriefing-right-before-a-life-or-death-mission?" Warren asked, clapping his hands together.

Kendra rolled her eyes as her brother snickered at "debriefing."

Without looking up from her magazine, Elise said, "What is there to debrief? We already know each other and all that pre-mission nonsense."

"Aw, come on, guys," Warren pleaded. "Let's talk about our game plan!"

With minor grumbling, the other five swiveled their chairs around so they were sitting in a rough circle. Warren lit a candle that would keep outsiders from hearing their discussion. Even though they were several thousand feet in the air, it was better to be safe than sorry.

"So where exactly are we headed?" Seth asked.

Elise unfolded a large map of the area and spread it before them. "We're going to land around _here_," she said, pointing to a spot of rainforest in the middle of the map, "and hike about two miles northeast to the temple. We don't know much about it except that it was built several thousand years ago and hasn't been used for worship in centuries."

"Since Ronodin likely created it for the sole purpose of guarding his first horn, we can assume it will be heavily protected," Warren said. "And when I say heavily guarded, I mean think Inverted Tower. Think Dragon Temple. Actually, pick just about any place we've visited in the past couple of years and you get the idea. This is serious stuff we're dealing with."

"Like the vaults at Lost Mesa or Obsidian Waste?" Kendra asked.

"Yes, exactly. Except we're at a slight disadvantage now because we don't know what we'll be up against," Warren said.

"This sounds suspiciously like every other end-of-the-world, life-or-death trip we've been on," Seth observed.

"You _are_ the one who wanted adventure," Kendra reminded him.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Seth brushed her comments aside. "So assuming we survive all the killer traps and stuff, how do we destroy Ronodin's horn after we get it?"

"I've been doing a bit of research on the subject," Brynn said. She pulled a thick, dusty book out of her backpack.

"A _bit_?" Seth asked incredulously.

Brynn shrugged. "I picked up a few other volumes that I thought might be useful before we left."

"And you're carrying those around in your _backpack?_"

"For Brynn, that's fairly light reading," Bracken said with a grin.

"_Anyway,_ I've been doing some research on the subject," Brynn repeated. "Naturally, the horn of a unicorn can't be destroyed by ordinary means. They are made of extremely strong material. This will be exceptionally difficult, as Ronodin has imbued his horns with great amounts of magic in order to tether his spirit to the world of the living. It will take a great deal of purity to overcome the darkness. I have concluded that the best weapon to destroy it is another unicorn horn, which Bracken and I each have conveniently brought with us."

"That sounds too easy," Seth said.

"Don't forget we have to survive long enough to find it," Warren pointed out.

Aaron poked his head out of the cockpit door. "We'll reach the lowest possible altitude in about five minutes. You may want to get your chutes ready."

"Got it." Warren crossed to a wall where several bulky backpacks were hanging.

"Wait, _what?_" Kendra asked. Had Aaron really said _chutes_? As in _parachutes_?

"There's no runway to land on, so Aaron will get as low as is safe, and then we'll jump," Elise explained.

"And you didn't tell us this _why_?" Kendra shrieked.

"Because we knew you were going to freak out," Warren said calmly.

"I'm not freaking out," Seth said. "I've always wanted to go skydiving!"

"Partner up," Elise instructed. "Kendra with me, Seth with Warren, since it's your first time. You two," she said to Bracken and Brynn, "do whatever is most comfortable for you."

The two unicorns looked at each other. "We'll go together," Bracken said.

"I can slow our fall if need be," Brynn added.

"Hopefully that won't be necessary," Warren said. "All right, strap up."

Within minutes Kendra found herself strapped securely to Elise. "Don't worry about pulling the cord or anything," Elise assured her. "I'll take care of everything."

Kendra gulped. "I apologize in advance if I throw up on you," she said.

"You'll be fine. It's really quite exhilarating. I've done this a half-dozen times as a Knight of the Dawn and twice just for fun."

"You're insane."

"Get ready," Aaron called from the cockpit.

Warren heaved open a thick door in the side of the plane that Kendra hadn't noticed before. All sound was immediately drowned out by the roar of the air from outside.

Warren shouted something that was lost in the noise. He pointed to Bracken and Brynn and then to the open door. He mimed pulling a cord. They nodded – in understanding, Kendra hoped – and stepped toward the gap. Then all of a sudden they were gone, spiraling off toward the ground thousands of feet below. A few moments later a gray blob appeared, their parachute slowing their fall to Earth.

Elise motioned toward the door. Swallowing her fear, Kendra moved forward and peered out. The ground looked _very_ far away. Then the safe floor of the airplane vanished from beneath her feet and they were off, plummeting through the sky.

Kendra assumed Warren and Seth had jumped out behind them, but she honestly couldn't tell. All she knew was that the rainforest below was coming toward them at an alarming rate. At the same time, it was exhilarating being this high in the air. It was like she was flying. She let out an excited whoop.

Then with a sudden jerk their parachute popped out behind them and their fall slowed dramatically. The wind still rushed past them on all sides, but now they were coasting.

"This is awesome!" Kendra yelled to Elise.

"I know!" Elise agreed.

Elise directed their fall with straps attached to the chute. As they neared the canopy of the rainforest, they had to swerve to dodge trees. They couldn't avoid all of them, and Kendra was feeling very battered by the time the forest floor was within sight. When they were almost to the ground, the parachute snagged on a branch and they jerked to a halt five feet in the air.

"Not bad for parachuting into dense rainforest," Elise commented. "Hang on, I'm going to cut us loose."

"We're just going to leave the parachute here?" Kendra asked.

Elise shrugged, a movement that jostled them both and sent them swinging slightly. "It's too much effort to get it out of the tree, and I am _not_ folding that thing up to hike miles through the jungle with. If we come back this way later we can cut it down then."

"Are we going to meet up with the others?" asked Kendra.

"At the temple," Elise answered, all the while hacking at the parachute strings with a knife. "We'd waste too much time if we wandered around looking for each other."

"Do you know how to – oh!" All of a sudden they dropped to the forest floor. Something wet and squishy broke Kendra's fall. "Ew…"

"Not your average North American deciduous forest, is it?" Elise asked, leaning over to help Kendra up.

"Most definitely not," Kendra agreed vehemently, wiping some sort of slime off her arm. She looked around them for any sign of a path, but they were in land completely untouched and untamed by humans. "Do you know how to get to this temple?"

"Yep. Warren gave me the coordinates, and with a map and a compass, we'll never get lost. Hey, can you get the map out of my pack? It's in the side pocket."

Kendra retrieved the map and handed it to Elise. Elise examined it for a few minutes, consulted her compass, and went back to studying the map. Bored, Kendra looked at the forest around them. The tree their parachute had gotten caught on seemed to stretch infinitely upward until its top vanished in a haze of green light. Kendra realized that the leaves of the trees formed a canopy overhead and what sunlight filtered through was tinted green. Feeling dizzy from looking up, she shifted her gaze to the ground. The dirt and leaf litter were moist underfoot, suggesting recent rain, a fact emphasized by the heavy humidity. It was almost like inhaling water. She had only been standing for a few minutes but already she was sweating.

Something rustled in the foliage. Kendra glanced around but saw nothing. She heard nothing, either, except for the constant hum of insect noises and occasional chattering of an unseen animal. Yet she couldn't think the feeling that someone – or some_thing_ was watching.

"Elise?"

Elise didn't look up from her map. "Mhm?"

"What sort of animals live in the rainforest?"

"Oh, lots of things. It's the most diverse environment in the world. Thousands of different species of plants and animals thrive here. Some are poisonous, but if that's what got you worried, I have the necessary potions from Tanu and, of course, Bracken and Brynn will be able to counteract most poisons. We're about as safe as you can get out here."

"Okay," Kendra said, but she wasn't fully reassured. What if they ran into a really rare poisonous snake before they met up with the others?

Elise folded up her map. "Okay, I think I can get us to the—" But whatever she was going to say was abruptly cut off.

"Elise?" Alarmed, Kendra saw that a small feathered dart sprouted from her friend's neck. Elise's knees buckled and she collapsed to the ground.

"Elise!"

Something hissed through the air, barely audible over the background noise of the rainforest, and Kendra felt something prick the back of her neck. "Ow…"

Then the forest swam before her eyes, the ground rushed up to her face, and the world went black.

* * *

><p>When Seth came to, he was suspended above a massive pot of boiling water.<p>

He was also tied up and dangling from the ceiling, but it was the water that held his attention. That and the fact that he seemed to be dropping slightly toward certain death with every passing moment. If he didn't think fast, someone was going to have boiled Seth for dinner. Given that he was still suited up in all his hiking gear, he didn't think he was going to taste very good

He twisted and thrashed, trying in vain to loosen the rope that bound him, but he abandoned the effort when he realized that was just going to get him dropped into the pot sooner. He could try to swing from side to side, work up some momentum, but that probably wouldn't get him anything but dizzy. So he sat and stewed – but not literally. Yet.

After a few minutes passed and Seth had dropped another six inches toward the water, he decided to call for help. "Hey! Anyone there? Somebody? Help! I'm about to get turned into boiled shadow charmer!"

"Seth?" several voices chorused from behind him.

With difficulty Seth twisted around, a dangerous maneuver that sent him spinning. As he rotated, he saw that the stone chamber was not empty as he had assumed before. Suspended from the ceiling were a dozen or so wire cages. Most of them were empty, but five sported blindfolded inhabitants. Seth immediately recognized Warren, Elise, Kendra, Bracken, and Brynn.

"Guys! What happened?" he asked. The last thing he remembered was walking in the forest with Warren.

"Shortly after we set out, we were attacked from behind," Warren said. "Some kind of drugged blow darts, I would guess."

"Same here," Kendra added, speaking for herself and Elise.

"Brynn and I detected a dark presence before we, too, were attacked," Bracken said.

"Not Ronodin?" Seth asked, although he was fairly certain the dark unicorn couldn't knock them all out, put the others in cages, and hang Seth over a cauldron of boiling water all while in spirit form.

Brynn answered from the cage beside Warren's. "No. We certainly would have known if it were him. He is not nearby. We sensed several minds working as one."

"Seth, are you blindfolded?" Elise asked. When he replied no, she asked, "Where are we?"

Seth described the stone room. There wasn't any apparent furniture or decoration. The only light came from the fire beneath the cauldron, but as near as he could tell, the room was empty. He also told them of his predicament, noting that while they had talked he had dropped another three inches. He estimated that he had about a foot to go until he hit the water. If the cauldron was deep enough to hold him, as he assumed it was, then it had to be at least six feet deep. This was going to be slow and painful. He wondered morbidly if the heat would get to him or if he would drown first.

Now would be an excellent time to miraculously develop some useful shadow charmer powers.

"Do you see an exit anywhere?" Warren asked.

Before Seth could respond that yes, there was a wooden door in the corner, that very door swung open and four creatures swarmed in. They were vaguely humanoid but they were short, stocky, and had lumpy green skin. Each sported a tangle of greasy black hair. From what Seth could tell, their teeth were rotten but very sharp.

The creatures looked up at him and began gibbering excitedly. Their attention made Seth nervous. One carried a rather large stick and proceeded to poke Seth with it.

"Hey! Cut it out! That hurts," Seth complained.

The creatures immediately hushed. The one with the stick grumbled, "Meat's tender."

"Meat talks!" exclaimed one of the other creatures.

"Meat is going to get angry," Seth warned.

"Seth? What's going on?" Kendra asked.

"Quiet!" the creature with the stick roared. It hurled its stick at Kendra's cage. The projectile bounced off the bars with a muted clang and scared Kendra into silence.

"Uh, I don't think they want you guys to talk," Seth said, thinking fast. Since he was a shadow charmer, he could understand what the creatures were saying, but he doubted whether the others could. "I'll handle this one," he called up to them. "I'll try to talk them into letting us go."

"Not all of us are stupid," said one of the creatures. With its misshapen face and particularly tangled hair, Seth immediately deemed it the ugliest of the four.

"I assumed you were, for I am being dangled over a fire," Seth said as arrogantly as he could. "This is not the best way to gain the approval of a shadow charmer."

Muttering broke out between the creatures at this remark. Clearly they hadn't known his shadow charmer. He hoped they wouldn't call his bluff, because there really wasn't anything he could do to them.

The ugliest spoke up. "Forgive us, for we had not realized you were an ally of the night. But pray tell, O shadow charmer, why are you traveling with such unseemly company?" It gestured contemptuously at Bracken and Brynn.

"Let me down and maybe I'll tell you," Seth said evasively.

The creature grunted its assent. It began barking orders and two of the creatures shoved the cauldron away. Seth marveled at their strength, and it was obvious that they were unaffected by the heat. He made a mental note not to get on their bad side.

Once the cauldron was out of the way, Seth dropped unexpectedly to the floor, though no one had touched the rope. A third creature came over and sliced through his bindings with a crude knife. Seth sat up and stretched luxuriously, attempting to rub some feeling into his sore muscles. He stood so that he towered over even the tallest of the creatures.

"Well, Sir Shadow Charmer?" the ugly one prompted.

Seth looked up at the others above him for encouragement before remembering they couldn't see him. He took a deep breath and said, "We came seeking the horn of a dark unicorn. These unicorns—" (he waved a casual hand at Bracken and Brynn) "—have led me to this location. We have heard it is in an abandoned temple near here. Do you know where it is?"

The creatures chuckled, a sound like rocks grinding together that grated on Seth's eardrums.

"In temple now," rumbled one of the creatures.

"Horn in safe room," added another.

"We reside in the temple now," the ugliest creature clarified. "We four are among the guardians of the dark unicorn's first horn. A fact that reminds me—" It turned to the other three. "Go! Finish the patrol! I shall deal with the prisoners."

Grumbling, the other creatures trooped out.

Seth was confused. "What—"

"Hush. Tell me no more of your intentions," the remaining creature ordered. "If you mean harm toward the horn, I will have to kill you."

"So why—"

"Have you ever heard of a forest troll?" the creature interrupted. Seth shook his head. "Hmph. Some shadow charmer. Several millennia ago the dark unicorn known as Ronodin came to our forest to hide his first horn. He erected this massive stone temple and placed his horn inside a heavily fortified vault at the center. To ensure his horn's safety, he enslaved the local colony of forest trolls to guard the temple even at the cost of our lives. But if the unicorn's horn is destroyed, then we will be free. So do not tell me what your goal is, and I can let you go and pretend I never saw you."

"What about my friends?" Seth asked.

"No time," the forest troll said briskly. "This is a job for you alone, shadow charmer."

Seth thought about it, then nodded. "I'll do it," he said, loud enough for the others to hear.

The troll reached up to clap him on the shoulder. "Good! Hopefully you will be the one to break the curse."

"Any tips for me, er – what's your name?" asked Seth.

"I am called Bone. As for advice, try to avoid my fellow guardians. Most are unintelligent, but if you meet one with his wits about him, be wary, because very few share my desire for freedom. Have you any weapons?"

Seth replied that he had a sword and some potions in his backpack.

Bone grunted. "Those will do, I suppose. The last hero to come in here was much better outfitted. Now, off you go!" The troll pushed Seth toward the door, ignoring his queries about the last hero. "Don't worry about getting lost; your shadow charmer skills will guide you. And good luck – whatever your quest may be, I hope you succeed."

With one last glance back at his friends, Seth heaved the heavy wooden door open and stepped into the dark temple beyond.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>

Oh my gosh I updated in under two weeks! I know, I'm in shock, too. I'm very pleased with how this chapter turned out. The next one is going to focus mainly on Seth. He may develop some new abilities; I was disappointed that he never got any especially exciting powers in the series.

Hah, Kendra must have a talent for blacking out. I know that's the third time I've done it in like the last three chapters, and I apologize, but this time it really fit! I also had to make them go skydiving, because I totally see that as something the Knights of the Dawn would do. Of course, I've never gone skydiving myself, so I'm not sure if that was a very reliable description of what it would be like, but I tried.

One last thing – in the beginning, when there was a bit from Ronodin's point of view (Anyone notice a pattern here?), I did refer to the Fairy King as Oberon a couple of times. This has nothing to do with the overall plot. I just needed something for Ronodin to refer to him as, since they are brothers and if Ronodin has a first name then the Fairy King probably does, too.

If I keep up with this one-page-a-day thing, hopefully the next chapter will be up as quickly as this one was!


	13. The First Horn

**Chapter Thirteen**

As Seth stepped into the hallway, doubts began to crowd his head. The flaws in this plan suddenly seemed glaringly obvious.

First, he really had no idea how to find Ronodin's horn in the first place. Bone had told him to rely on his shadow charmer abilities, but the only ones he had weren't very helpful in this instance. He was immune to magical emotions, so he would be able to take the horn without feeling guilty, and he could talk to creatures of darkness. He supposed he could talk his way out of a sticky situation if he really had to. He could also shade walk, but it was so dark in the corridor that it hardly mattered. No one was going to be able to see him in the pitch blackness. And anyway, shade walking worked best if he was moving slowly and he had neither the time nor the patience for that.

Second, even if he did manage to track down Ronodin's horn in this vast temple, he had nothing to destroy it with. Brynn had said that it couldn't just be smashed. It would take something with a lot of purity, like a unicorn horn, to destroy it. Since he was a shadow charmer, purity wasn't exactly his line of work.

Of course, he couldn't just give up without trying. Maybe some new powers had developed in the last couple of months and he just needed to figure out how to use them. Unicorns seemed to do a lot of sensing with their minds, so maybe he could do something similar. He had no clue how to do anything fancy with his thoughts, so he just squeezed his eyes shut and concentrated as hard as he could on finding Ronodin's horn.

He detected nothing at first and just felt like an idiot for trying. But then, after a few seconds passed, he felt something brush his mind. It was the oddest sensation, but it was actually like something was caressing his thoughts. It was like a feather tickling his brain, an itch he couldn't scratch. _Weird._ It felt like it was coming from the right, so Seth stepped hesitantly in that direction. The tickling feeling persisted. Figuring he had nothing to lose, he continued slowly down the hallway.

It grew darker the farther he went into the temple. It was completely black at times except for the occasional torch on the wall. Seth became increasingly irritated with his inability to see in the dark. Even Kendra could do it, and she was _fairykind_. Shouldn't darkness be _his_ specialty? But no, the shadow charmer didn't get anything useful like that. Seth grumbled silently about the unfairness of life as he wandered deeper into the temple, following that irritating mental itch.

Occasionally he came across a forest troll. Whenever this happened Seth backed up against the wall and prayed he would blend in with the shadows. It worked most of the time; there was only one close call. He was just passing a torch when he heard heavy footsteps approaching from the opposite direction. He froze a little too close to the light for his liking, but he crossed his fingers and hoped it was dim enough. The troll halted and sniffed, a mere foot away from him, before moving on. Seth heaved a sigh of relief and resumed his walk.

The tickling feeling in the back of his mind (which was really starting to get on his nerves) increased in force the farther he walked. He tried to keep track of his route in the beginning, but after taking a dozen turns he gave up and just hoped he would be able to find his way back. He was fairly certain he was going up, though it was hard to tell because there were no windows and the entire temple was shrouded in perpetual darkness. He hadn't come across any stairs, but there seemed to be a slight incline to the floor.

Seth was so focused on avoiding forest trolls that the trap caught him completely off guard. One moment he was standing on solid stone floor and the next he was up to his ankles in sticky muck.

He muttered curses under his breath as he attempted to pull one foot out of the gooey mess and found it was stuck fast. What _was_ this stuff? The last torch was far behind him and the next one far ahead, so he could see nothing in the darkness. Rapidly becoming frustrated, he cursed himself for being careless, he cursed Bone for sending him off to retrieve the horn on his own, and he cursed himself again for not being able to see in the dark and not being able to tell _what the heck was going on_!

The complete blackness of the temple pressed in on him from all sides. He could see absolutely nothing, and it was slowly driving him insane.

Seth's tolerance snapped. "Go away!" he shouted, frustrated.

He sounded like an idiot, talking to an empty corridor, and his voice sounded weak and childlike, even to himself. He was kidding himself, pretending to be an all-important shadow charmer when he really relied on people like Warren and Elise for protection. He was so engrossed in telling himself off that at first he didn't notice that the darkness was crawling away from him.

Seth looked up, startled. He could still see nothing ahead or behind, but all around him there was a thin area where light could exist. Through this light he could see a sliver of wall an inch away from his left hand; he could see a puddle of black, tarlike substance lapping at his boots.

He knew this was impossible. If there was any light at all in this space, shouldn't it spread out and illuminate the entire corridor? It made sense whatsoever for only the small area around him to be visible. _Maybe it's not like I'm seeing light,_ he thought. _Maybe it's just the absence of darkness._

He reached out to the seemingly open air before him. But rather than pass through as if there were nothing there, his fingers met springy resistance. Seth pushed gently, and the darkness receded, allowing him to see a little bit more. Confidence growing, Seth shoved at the dark and it retreated a full ten feet, enabling to see his surroundings.

He stood at the edge of a black lake. No, it wasn't quite a lake, because the substance (whatever it was) certainly wasn't a liquid. But it wasn't a solid, either. There was probably a scientific term for it, but he couldn't remember what it was. It was kind of swamp-like. A yucky, sticky, muddy black swamp. Experimentally he tried again to take a step, but the muck clung to his boots like superglue. It gave a little, allowing him to get a few centimeters off the ground, but eventually it snapped taut and he could pull no further.

It was a clever trap. Unless you knew it lay ahead, you wouldn't see it coming and would walk right into it and get stuck. Just like Seth had.

He contemplated poking at the muck with something, but he didn't fancy his hand getting caught in it, too. Nor did he want to risk prodding it with his sword and take the chance of losing the only weapon he had. But there had to be _some_ way to defeat this thing. After all, no prison could exist that couldn't be breeched; no vault could exist that couldn't be unlocked.

Unless, of course, the key to unlocking it lay in not stepping in the goo.

Even as he thought, the tickling persisted in the back of Seth's brain. That little tingle, as obnoxious as it was, gave him an idea. His shadow charmer abilities had clearly developed further. He may not be able to remove himself from the muck physically, but what about magically? He didn't know much about being a shadow charmer, but he was running short on other ideas.

Seth beckoned with his hand and a small blob of darkness detached itself from the main mass and floated toward him. He grabbed it and discovered that he could actually touch it, even though it was nothing but air. It had a consistency like soft clay. He rolled the darkness between his palms, creating a long snakelike strand. Carefully he lowered it to the ground until it touched the black goo. Seth quickly pulled it back up, but he encountered no resistance from the muck. He tried again and again, each time retrieving the string of darkness effortlessly. In fact, when he looked closely at the ground (as closely as he dared without falling forward and getting stuck), it looked like his darkness had singed a hole in the goo. More muck was already creeping in to fill the gap, but this gave Seth an idea.

He called more blobs of darkness toward him. He discovered that he didn't need to use his hands, just think with his mind and they would come. The little black balls floated in the air beside him, and whenever he wanted another one he would summon it mentally. He worked quickly, forming two thick discs of jellied darkness.

_If I can pass through it when I need to and mold it when I need to, can I change its consistency too?_ Seth wondered. A firm push with his right hand on one of the discs hardened it like cement. Apparently he could.

Then, very carefully, he bent over. He held the hardened darkness in one hand and used the other for balance. He picked up his right foot as far as he could, laid the disc against it, and pushed. For a few seconds nothing happened. Then, slowly but steadily, the darkness ate away at the black goo until his entire foot was free and he was standing on top of the black disc. He did the same to his other foot. Then he used more blobs of darkness to form protective sides around his boots. The finished product was like a pair of bulky black shoes. They weren't exactly a fashion statement, but they allowed Seth to walk easily across the swamp.

Once Seth reached to the other side, he collapsed to the ground. All his strength seemed to have left him at once. With a weary of sigh he released the mental burden he hadn't realized he was holding. His "shoes" vanished and the corridor was plunged back into darkness. Normal, non-shapeable darkness.

He was panting like he had just run a mile. This whole shaping darkness thing was handy, but it sapped his strength. Seth decided he didn't want to get up quite yet and shrugged out of his backpack. He fished around inside. First he found his sword, which he pulled out and strapped to his waist. _Just in case,_ he thought_._ He didn't want to get caught off guard in a place like this. It was a miracle he hadn't been caught yet. The next thing he grabbed was the real jackpot – granola bars. Even dry hiker food looked appetizing right now. After consuming several, Seth felt ready to move on.

The tingling feeling in the back of his mind was going crazy now. The horn had to be close. Seth walked briskly through the corridors. He took turns as soon as the tickle pointed them out to him. He began to pass fewer torches and encountered fewer guards. He predicted he was somewhere near the end.

Finally, the endless maze of corridors ended.

Seth entered a vast chamber. It was brighter than the dim corridors, but not by much. He realized this was due to a large hole in the ceiling. The grand room was wide open to the heavens. The last rays of dying sunlight filtered through the trees above and shone down on a pedestal in the center of the room.

Seth dashed forward. It _had_ to be the horn on the pedestal. As he drew nearer he could make out the shape of something like a unicorn horn, but before he could get any closer he collided head on with an invisible barrier.

"Halt! Who dares invade the sacred chamber?" called a voice from above.

Seth glanced up, rubbing his head. "Who makes an invisible wall and sticks it right where someone's going to run into it?" he shouted back.

"Touché, young shadow charmer," the disembodied voice replied. "Yes, I can tell that you are young from the sound of your voice. I hope you are stronger than your age implies, because it would be a shame for my first opponent in many years to be an easily defeated infant." The speaker chuckled arrogantly, malevolently. In a way he reminded Seth of Ronodin. They both had the _I'm-such-an-awesome-evil-demon_ thing going for them. That probably wasn't good for Seth.

"I slew the demons Graulas and Nagi Luna, and now I am on a quest to destroy Ronodin, the dark unicorn," Seth declared. "A measly coward who won't even show his face isn't going to stop me."

"Oho, so we are going to play the game of taunts and insults? That is fine by me," the voice chuckled. "I am called Scar, and I have slain thousands of mortals not unlike you, boy. I stood beside the mighty Ronodin at the final battle in his war against the Fairy King and remained loyal until the end. I still honor his cause today by devoting my existence to guarding his first horn. And I, too, am a shadow charmer."

Seth gulped. This guy was bad news. Another shadow charmer? But hadn't the Sphinx said that he and Seth were the only ones left? Of course, if Scar had been around in Ronodin's time, that made him hundreds of years older than the Sphinx. Seth didn't even want to know what kind of creature could live for so long.

"Are we going to stand around and shout insults at each other until we die of old age, or are we actually going to fight?" Seth challenged, swallowing his doubts.

"A very good question, shadow charmer. I suggest looking behind you."

Seth spun around. Nothing was there. _What…?_

Too late he realized it must be a trick. Something heavy slammed into him from behind and sent him sprawling forward. Winded, he scrambled to his feet and faced his opponent.

He immediately amended his previous thought about Bone being the ugliest forest troll. Scar took the prize hands down. Four feet tall, covered in slimy-looking green skin, and with two overlarge canines jutting out of his lower jaw, Scar was the most repulsive creature Seth had ever seen.

"A troll?" Seth squeaked. He told himself his voice was only high pitched because he didn't quite have his breath back, not because he was scared out of his wits. "How can a troll be a shadow charmer?"

"Creatures of darkness do not discriminate! 'Shadow charmer' by definition means only 'ally of the night.' One needs only the proper induction to reap the rewards," Scar informed him. The troll then punctuated this remark by punching Seth in the jaw.

Seth's head snapped back and he nearly toppled over again. _Time to ditch the backpack before it unbalances me any more_, he decided. He shrugged out of the straps and dumped it on the ground, and then jumped back to avoid a vicious kick from Scar. This guy was fast!

Clumsily, Seth drew his sword. It was annoyingly heavy in his hand. He was badly out of shape. He aimed a choppy blow at Scar, who ducked and retaliated with a shove to Seth's chest.

"Pitiful!" Scar taunted. "You mortals rely too heavily on your weapons of steel. You are a shadow charmer! Can you not manipulate the darkness?"

Seth paused as he struggled mentally. He tried to recall the feeling from before and turn the air solid, but it kept slipping out of his grasp. He realized there wasn't enough darkness to work with – the hole in the ceiling prevented the chamber from becoming completely dark. It was designed so that even the slightest bit of daylight would illuminate the entire room. He would have to wait until the sun went down – if he could last that long.

Scar brought him back to reality with a brutal strike to his right arm. Something snapped and Seth dropped his sword, crying out in pain. His wrist was broken, he was sure of it. He reclaimed his weapon with his other hand and scrambled backward. His only hope now was to avoid the forest troll for as long as possible.

"This is pathetic!" Scar cried, laughing. "This little boy thinks he can defeat me? Hah! How did he even make it this far?"

Seth said nothing. He continued inching backward until he hit the stone wall. It was slightly dimmer here, so maybe, just maybe, his plan would work. It was clear he would not win on strength alone (Scar certainly had him beat in that category), so he would have to outsmart him.

"Where did the little hero go?" Scar cackled. "Did he run off, afraid? No, the young shadow charmer must be shade walking. Very impressive, boy, but will it help you?"

Seth released a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. It was just dark enough that the troll couldn't see him. Cradling his right hand against his chest, he awkwardly gripped the sword in his left. Hardly daring to breathe, he waited as Scar inched around the perimeter of the room. The forest troll was just twenty feet away. Now ten. Now five. The hilt of Seth's sword was slick with sweat from his palms. Scar paused directly in front of him and sniffed the air, bulbous nose twitching.

Seth lashed out with his sword, hoping to decapitate the troll or at least do some serious damage. But at the last moment Scar ducked away, escaping the blow entirely.

"Foolish boy," Scar chuckled. "Have you forgotten that I, too, am a shadow charmer? Did you honestly think that your weak tricks would work on me? I can see right through your shade-walking ruse. Let me show you what a _real_ shadow charmer can do!"

The troll sank into the floor. Seth glanced around wildly but saw nothing, and the shove from behind caught him off guard. Scar sent him face-first into the ground. He landed awkwardly on his already injured arm, and he couldn't help the anguished squeak that escaped him. That was a classic trick from the movies – he'd have to be more on guard.

Scar reappeared in front of him; Seth looked up at the troll from the ground. He tried not to cringe away as Scar leaned down, his hideous face inches away from Seth's own. The troll's putrid breath made his eyes water.

"And that's not all… Just wait until the sun goes down, _shadow charmer_," Scar sneered. "That's when the real fun starts."

_When the sun goes down…_ Seth glanced up at the hole in the ceiling. The sky was dark but for the slightest hint of yellow off to the west. The first stars were beginning to appear over the horizon. But the few beams of sun that still lingered managed to light up the circular chamber. If he could just hold on until night, he might have a chance. It couldn't be far off now…

Seth was once again jerked abruptly out of his thoughts (he really needed to stop zoning out) when something heavy slammed into him, pinning him against the wall. His head cracked painfully against the wall. Hopefully nothing was broken.

He tried to make sense of the shape that had latched on tightly to his waist. It was like someone had taken a thick roll of shadowy duct tape and taped him to the wall. He couldn't see Scar anywhere; had the troll become the shadow? Or was he shade walking and invisible to Seth's untrained eye?

The shadow began to crawl up his midsection. Seth twisted in vain; his arms were trapped securely at his sides. He tried to push at the shadow with his mind, but nothing happened. Within seconds it was up to his neck and began to constrict, cutting off his airstream

Seth's eyes widened in panic as he gulped for oxygen and found nothing. This shadow would finish him in seconds if he didn't do something fast. Already it felt like his lungs were burning.

The last bit of daylight faded away and the chamber was plunged into absolute blackness.

Three things occurred simultaneously. First, Seth felt the darkness around him solidify. It was ready to bend to his will. Also, he discovered he could see in the dark. No, it wasn't quite seeing in the dark; it was more like he could see where the darkness didn't exist. He could see the obstacles that prevented the night from filling certain spaces. Blackness still pressed in on all sides, but Seth could clearly see the wall behind him, the floor at his feet, and the suddenly giant troll in front of him.

That was the third thing. With the coming of total night, Scar had doubled in size. He now towered over Seth. Rippling muscles bulged underneath sickly green skin. With a low growl the troll hurled Seth across the room. Scar put so much force behind the throw that Seth should have slammed into the opposite wall at breakneck (literally) speeds. However, before he had traveled more than a few yards, he collided with a soft cushion. The darkness gently righted Seth and placed him on his feet.

Seth gulped in lungfuls of air, massaging his throat with his good hand. He could move the darkness now, but Scar's powers had clearly been magnified as well. He needed to end this quickly before he was beaten to a pulp.

Scar gave a mighty roar and charged forward. From the troll's outstretched hands, shadowy, ghostlike arms extended and reached for Seth. Thinking fast, Seth told the darkness in front of him to harden. The ghostly arms hit the solidified air with a satisfying thud. Scar spat on the ground in frustration.

As he backed away, Seth realized that the invisible walls surrounding the pedestal were also made of solid darkness. He would have to get rid of Scar in order to get rid of the walls. He didn't have a prayer of besting the troll in hand-to-hand combat… But that didn't mean someone else couldn't.

One of the puzzles in the vault at Obsidian Waste had been to build a warrior out of clay to combat another statue. Seth pictured Goliath, the statue he had helped build. Thick legs, thick arms, broad shoulders… As he thought, he began to shape the darkness around him.

"A night bender, eh?" Scar asked casually. His voice had deepened with his nighttime transformation. He strode slowly toward Seth, seeming confident in his victory. "An impressive skill for one so young, yet it will fail you in the end. I can see that you are yet unskilled; your talents are newly discovered. You haven't a hope of besting me. Why not just give up now and save yourself the trouble?"

Seth gritted his teeth and continued working. He hadn't let Scar's insults to get to him yet, and there was no reason to start now. A large humanoid figure began to take shape beside him. The darkness bent easily to his will now; it was like putty in his hands as he shaped a thick club for his shadowy warrior. He also crafted a crude shield about the size of a serving platter. It wasn't much, but it would do. Silently he told the darkness to harden, and his champion was complete.

"Duskie," Seth whispered. As far as names went, it was incredibly lame but accurate. The dark figure beside him stirred at the sound of its new name. "Duskie, attack the troll."

Duskie lunged forward and tackled Scar to the ground. The shadow moved soundlessly, but the troll hit the ground with a very audible crack. Seth thought for sure that Scar was finished, but he recovered with unnatural agility and sent Duskie reeling with a swift punch to the face. (If the shadow even had a face. But whatever. It was in the general area of the face.) Seth winced in sympathy, but the shadow emitted no sound.

_Maybe he can't feel pain_, Seth thought. That would be a huge advantage. There was no question that Scar was feeling the effects of the battle. The troll lay on the ground, winded, after a collision between Duskie's club and Scar's stomach.

"Get the sword!" Seth called. He pointed to where his weapon lay on the stone floor.

Duskie scooped up the blade and, with one rapid stroke, decapitated the troll.

Seth heaved a sigh of relief. One major issue solved.

He indicated the pedestal in the center of the room. "Can you get the unicorn horn from up there, please?" he asked Duskie.

The shadow plodded over to the pedestal, which came up only to his shoulder, and reached for the horn. He didn't seem to be able to grab it, though.

Seth remembered something about people not being able to take the horn of a unicorn because it made them feel guilty. Apparently Duskie wasn't immune to magical emotions like he was. He hurried over.

"Here, buddy, lift me up," he said. Duskie picked him off the ground with ease and lifted him up to the pedestal.

Seth grabbed the horn with his good hand. As usual, he felt no pangs of remorse. But unlike the other unicorn horns he'd seen before, this one was tinted a deep purple and seemed to hum beneath his hands. Even with his limited shadow charmer abilities, he could tell that there was a lot power within the horn. He needed to get this back to the others as soon as possible.

And while he was at it, maybe Bracken or Brynn could fix broken bones.

* * *

><p>After what felt like hours, the door opened again. Kendra turned instinctively in the direction of the noise, though of course she was still blindfolded. "Seth?" she called out hesitantly. Hopefully it was him and not more of the trolls.<p>

"Guys, I'm back!" Seth called. The door shut behind him with a thud.

"Seth! Can you give us a hand here?" Warren called

"Sure. Just a sec." Seth muttered something under his breath. It sounded like he was asking someone to get the cages down. Was there someone else in the room with him?

There was no time for Kendra to ponder this further before her cage plummeted through the air and hit the ground with a bone-jarring thud.

"Gently!" Seth shouted to his unknown helper. "Hang on, Kendra, I'll get you out."

Kendra heard the sounds of the other four cages hitting the floor (much more softly, she noted) followed by the click of a lock. A few seconds later she felt Seth's hands at her wrists, untying her bonds. Finally he removed her blindfold and she could see again.

"I'm so glad you're all right!" she cried, giving her brother a tight hug. He winced, and when she pulled back she saw that he was holding his right arm awkwardly against his chest. She amended her previous remark. "Well, mostly all right."

"Yeah, I was hoping Bracken or Brynn might be able to fix that," Seth said. "Other than that I'm fine, really. Duskie did most of the dirty work."

"Who's Duskie?" Kendra asked.

Whatever Seth was going to say was cut off by a shriek from Brynn.

"Unhand me at once, foul demon!"

"Brynn, stop! Don't hurt him, it's just Duskie!" Seth called. He scrambled out of the cage, Kendra right behind.

Brynn paused, one hand glowing with intense white light. Kendra looked around the room, but saw no one but the six of them. Who had attacked Brynn?

"Duskie?" Brynn repeated.

"Um, yeah," Seth answered. "I couldn't think of anything else to call him, and he seems to like it. I, uh, kind of made him. Out of darkness."

Brynn extinguished her light and crossed her arms. "You're a night bender?" she demanded.

"I guess." Seth shrugged. "That's what Scar called it. I just figured it out myself."

"I can't see anything," Kendra interrupted.

"Yeah, I was wondering if you guys would be able to see him," Seth said.

"You do not see the dark figure standing behind me?" Brynn asked.

Kendra squinted, but still saw nothing out of the ordinary. "Nope."

"Can someone please let us out so we can see what's going on?" Warren asked.

"Right, sorry." Seth hurried over to Warren's cage.

Kendra still didn't really know what was going on, but it sounded like 'Duskie,' trying to be helpful, had attempted to remove Brynn's blindfold. But what exactly _was_ Duskie? Shrugging, Kendra went to release Bracken and Elise. All would be explained shortly.

When all six stood together in the middle of the room, Warren said, "Okay, now start from the beginning. Did you get the horn?"

"I thought you wanted me to start from the beginning! Yes, I got the horn." Seth went on to say that the four creatures who had come in earlier were forest trolls. Their entire race had been enslaved by Ronodin centuries ago. He explained how one of them, Bone, had let him go free and how he had used his shadow charmer abilities to locate the horn. When he described his newly discovered powers, Kendra couldn't help feeling jealous. Why couldn't she do anything cool like that?

"So what does it mean that I'm a, uh, 'night bender'?" Seth asked Brynn.

"Many years ago, 'night bender' was a term used to describe shadow charmers who could shape darkness to their will," Brynn explained. "It means that as shadow charmers go, you're quite powerful."

"But it doesn't mean I'm more evil or anything, right?" Seth checked.

"You have harnessed dark magic, but how you choose use it is up to you," Bracken assured him.

"So after you discovered this power," Warren prompted.

"Oh, right. Sorry. Got sidetracked."

Seth then described his trick to get across the black lake and his encounter with the other forest troll and shadow charmer, Scar. He explained how he had created Duskie and how the shadow man had dispatched the troll.

"So you're saying that there's a tall, dark figure standing behind you and we can't see it?" Elise asked.

"Well, actually he's off to my left right now, but yeah, pretty much," Seth replied.

"I can see the creature," Brynn said.

"As can I," Bracken added.

"I guess unicorns are more sensitive to that sort of thing," Seth said.

"There'll be plenty of time to discuss that later," Warren said impatiently. "What about the horn?"  
>In response Seth reached into his backpack and pulled out a familiar-looking tapering spiral. Unlike Bracken and Brynn's pure white horns, it was tinted deep purple. Kendra got an uneasy feeling just from looking at it.<p>

"That's it," Bracken said immediately.

"So all we need to do is touch it with one of your horns?" Elise asked.

"It should be Bracken's second horn, because he is most closely tied to the spirit and as a general rule the second horn is stronger than the first," Brynn decided after some thought.

Bracken made no motion to draw the sword at his waist. He stared at Ronodin's horn as if entranced. "I… do not think it would be wise for me to be the one to destroy the horn," he said slowly. "I sense it would have dire consequences."

Kendra found herself volunteering. "I can do it," she said. When Brynn looked doubtful, she added, "I'm fairykind. My touch will keep Bracken's horn powered. It'll be easy."

Visibly relieved, Bracken drew his sword and handed it hilt first to Kendra. It reverted to its original form when it left his hand.

"I think Seth should put the horn on the ground," Brynn said. "The result of contact may be violent."

Seth hastily dropped Ronodin's horn and backed away. It bounced when it hit the ground, but, as Brynn had predicted, it didn't shatter.

Kendra bent down, clutching Bracken's horn tightly in her right hand. Holding her breath, she touched its tip to the tip of the other.

The effect was immediate. Kendra felt Bracken's horn vibrate under her hands, and a split second later Ronodin's horn exploded. Shards flew everywhere, and everyone ducked to avoid the sharp pieces. Bracken cried out and fell to his knees, his head in his hands.

Instantly Brynn was at his side. "Brother? Are you all right?" she asked.

Bracken nodded, but still clutched his head, face contorted in pain. "The –the connection is severed," he gasped. "I imagine Ronodin is in great agony right now."

"And you?" Brynn pressed.

"I'm fine," Bracken insisted. He sat up slowly. Despite what he said, Kendra thought he looked exhausted. "It was just a very short and painful migraine. But it's gone now."

"You are certain?"

"Brynn, you're as bad as Mother sometimes," Bracken said with a weak smile.

"Can we fix my arm and go now?" Seth asked impatiently. "I've about had enough of this place."

"Me too," Elise said.

"I couldn't agree more," Warren said. "Everyone grab your gear; we're heading out."

Kendra was not at all sorry to leave the temple behind. As they searched for an exit, she could hardly contain her joy.

One down, two to go. Soon Ronodin would be defeated.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>

** EDIT: The first time this chapter was posted Seth's shadowman friend had a different name. After being informed by a reader that one could interpret it as a racial slur. This was not my original intent, I can assure you! I just meant it to be kind of funny. You know, this big, beefy shadowman who's beating up a forest troll with a really cutesy sounding name. To avoid awkwardness his name has been changed to Duskie. I apologize if I offended anyone with his name!**

As you can probably tell, I sort of gave up on my one-page-a-day thing. Actually, I went back to that during spring break this past week, but, uh, it probably didn't help that I was writing one page a day for a different fanfiction that I'm planning on posting later. Don't worry, I'm not giving up on this one. After all, they still have two more horns to destroy! Ironically, I have most of the chapter about the third horn planned out, but not the second one. We'll see how it turns out.

For the last couple chapters I've received a number of comments on my typos. Well, for this chapter I decided enough was enough and I was going to edit _thoroughly_! Clearly just skimming over the document in Microsoft Word hasn't been adequate, so I double-spaced everything, printed it out, and settled down with a blue pen and started editing. And while I did catch all those pesky typos (there were four or five of them), as I was reading through I started tweaking things here and there. And you know what? By the time I was done, I don't think there was a single paragraph without blue marks. So I made all my changes and I can honestly say that I'm extremely pleased with this chapter!

After all that effort I put in, if you diligent readers catch any more spelling errors, you have my full permission to beat me over the head with a dictionary.

I'm pretty sure I have now added a new step to my writing routine. Here's to a typo-free future of fanfiction!


	14. Complications

**Chapter Fourteen**

Kendra yawned and stretched. She opened her eyes, feeling refreshed. The flight from Brazil back to Connecticut had been an excellent opportunity to catch up on sleep.

"Finally. We thought you were never going to wake up," Warren teased.

"You snore," Seth complained.

"I do not!" Kendra snapped. In response to Warren's comment, she said, "We haven't even landed yet, have we?"

"Aaron says ten minutes until landing," Elise reported.

"See?" Kendra stuck her tongue out at her brother. Seth scowled back at her and swiveled his seat around so he was facing away from them.

"What's gotten into him?" Kendra asked.

Brynn appeared to be smothering a smile as she explained, "He spent the better part of the journey experimenting with his shadow charming powers."

"With varying levels of success," Bracken added.

"No, his results were very constant," Brynn disagreed.

"Okay, fine, I missed up every time," Seth said loudly, still with his back to them. "Now can you please stop talking about me behind my back?"

"I think it's just too light in here for your abilities to work properly," Bracken said soothingly. "What you did back at the temple was admirable."

"Quite impressive for one your age," agreed Brynn.

"Yeah, but we had to leave Duskie behind," Seth grumbled.

Kendra had never seen Seth's shadowman, but apparently when the sun had risen over the rainforest it had been too bright for the shadows to properly congeal. According to Seth, Duskie had dissolved into dark particles and dispersed. Seth had been pretty down at the time, and apparently he still was now.

"You can always make another one," Kendra suggested.

"It wouldn't be the same," Seth sighed.

Warren looked up from his phone (Apparently one could use a cell phone in a noncommercial airplane. Or maybe Warren didn't care about the rules. Either way, he had been engrossed in whatever game he was playing for the entire flight). "Kendra, Seth, I got an email from your dad," he said. "Your parents want to have a talk with you when we get back to Fablehaven.

Kendra exchanged a glance with her brother. Parents' wanting to "have a talk" was never a good sign.

"Did he say what it was about?" Seth asked nervously.

Warren glanced down at his phone. "No. Keep in mind, it's hard to discern the tone of voice from a written message; they may not be upset with you guys."

Despite Warren's soothing words, Kendra thought that highly unlikely. Her dad had been against her going to Los Angeles from the beginning and she doubted he approved of this excursion to Brazil either. It was a miracle that they had avoided confrontation for this long. It was only because her parents had been out to dinner when they returned from Minnesota with the Memory Glass and had been at work when they came back from the Fairy Realm that she had been safe. Now they were really in for it, though.

She thought back to the night before she had left for L.A. She and her dad had had an argument, which had resulted in a very embarrassing emotional breakdown. She had planned to run away on her own, but Elise had come to her room and told her that her dad had given in. This claim still seemed suspicious to her. She had never gotten a straight answer out of Brynn about that…

"No, I suppose you didn't, did you," Brynn remarked suddenly.

Kendra jumped. Had the unicorn read her mind?

Brynn inclined her head apologetically. "I did not mean to intrude on your thoughts, but you were expressing strong emotions, and the matter has lain heavily on my conscience for a while now."

"Would some one bring me up to speed?" Bracken inquired.

"I have no idea what they're talking about either," Seth said.

"Kendra's father was opposed to her traveling to the city of Los Angeles to search for the Memory Glass," Brynn explained. "I knew that Kendra's presence was vital to the success of our mission, so I placed a slight suggestion in master Sorenson's mind to convince him to let her go."

"I knew it!" Kendra exclaimed. "I knew Dad wouldn't have caved on his own."

Bracken took his sister's hand. "Brynn, surely you didn't cast a spell on another being!"

Brynn jerked out of his grasp; apparently she had no desire to communicate mind-to-mind. "It was only a minor enchantment. It required next to no magic."

"That's not the point," Warren said gravely. "The point is that you made Scott do something against his will."

"It was necessary," Brynn argued. "He failed to see what was right in front of him."

"You can't just _do_ something like that," Elise said, agreeing with Warren. "You can't take away someone's will like that."

"I did not _take away his will_, as you said. It was a single suggestion incantation. No lasting home was done," insisted Brynn.

"Yeah, well, how would _you_ like it if someone crept into your head and 'suggested' that you do something?" Seth challenged.

"Such a situation would never arise. None can penetrate my mental barriers," Brynn stated matter-of-factly.

Bracken coughed innocently. "Not even Ronodin?"

"Should the dark unicorn be near enough and strong enough to touch my mind, we would have more pressing issues demanding our attention than those of human ethics."

"Can we get back to the topic at hand?" Warren asked.

"Brynn, if Mother knew you had placed an enchantment on a human—" Bracken began.

"I like how you guys keep saying 'human', like you aren't one," Seth noted.

"They're _not_ human, you moron. They're unicorns," Kendra reminded him.

"Yeah, but the way she says it, it's like it's something bad. Like being human is a disease. Like they think they're so much better than us," Seth said.

Kendra couldn't think of anything to say to that. She had noticed herself that Brynn often had an imperious air of superiority about her. And, to be honest, it sometimes grated on Kendra's nerves, too.

"This seems to be an ongoing argument," Warren observed. "If you don't want or need our help, why are you here?'

Brynn opened her mouth as if to reply, thought for a moment, and closed it. Bracken reached for her hand again, and this time she didn't pull away.

Seeking to ease the tension, Kendra said, "Look, guys, we may not totally get along, but we do have the same end goal of beating Ronodin, so maybe we can just work together until we achieve that?"

"Sounds good to me," Warren said. "All in favor of a temporary truce?"

His words were met with tentative nods from those present.

"When we return to Fablehaven, it may be best if Bracken and Brynn don't accompany us to the house," Elise said. "It's for the best – there's going to be some heated discussion and it won't help that you put some kind of jinx on Scott."

"I understand," Brynn said.

"We can go to the fairy shrine," Bracken suggested. "The Fairy Queen will want to know that we've destroyed one of Ronodin's horns."

And that settled things. But in spite of the temporary truce, tension remained high as the plane landed and even as they piled into a rental car to drive back to Fablehaven. Warren and Elise spoke softly in the front, while Kendra and Seth sat in the back. Bracken and Brynn were in the middle; they maintained contact for the entire ride, so Kendra assumed they were communicating mentally. A heavy near-silence hung in the air.

Bored, Kendra glanced over at Seth. He had an intense look of concentration on his face. Was he trying to shape the shadows in the car? She wondered if it was even dark enough for that. Probably not, because after a few minutes Seth gave up with a sigh.

Like she was awaiting her execution or taking a math test, time flew by quickly and all too soon they were outside the front gates of Fablehaven. Warren called ahead to the house, and after a short delay, the gates swung open and they proceeded forward.

When they reached the house, Bracken and Brynn excused themselves and headed off into the forest toward the fairy shrine. Warren threw open the front door and announced, "We're back!"

They entered the house. Kendra saw that everyone had returned from their various missions; Trask, Mara, Tanu, and Vanessa were all there, along with Grandma and Grandpa Sorenson. Mom and Dad stood off in the corner. Kendra caught her dad's eye but quickly looked away, startled by the anger in his gaze.

"Welcome back," Grandpa Sorenson said. "Did you find the horn?"

"Target one located and eliminated," Warren answered. "Now we just need to figure out how to get to the next one."

Dad cleared his throat quietly, his eyes on Kendra and Seth. Kendra shifted under his gaze.

Grandpa glanced toward Mom and Dad. "Ah, yes," he said. "Perhaps we should adjourn to the kitchen to discuss things?"

This was a subdued murmur of assent from the other adults. Kendra didn't have to ask to know that she and Seth weren't included in that "we." They and Mom and Dad remained standing on opposite sides of the living room as everyone else headed for the kitchen.

It was a stare down. Seth coughed quietly; Dad crossed his arms. Kendra shifted her weight from one foot to the other and switched her duffel bag to the other hand.

When Kendra thought the tension was about to become unbearable, Mom broke the ice by sitting down on the couch. Kendra dropped her bag in relief and took the chair opposite. Dad sat next to Mom and Seth took the chair next to Kendra; the coffee table remained a physical barrier between the children and the adults.

In contrast to Kendra's nervousness, Seth seemed completely at ease. He stretched luxuriously and was about to put his feet on the table, but a glare from Mom stopped him. Seth rolled his eyes but put his feet back on the floor.

Mom glanced hesitantly at Dad as if waiting for him to say something, but he remained silent, staring broodingly at the space between Kendra and Seth. No one would quite meet each other's eyes.

"Well," Mom remarked lightly, "this may be the first time the four of us have been alone together in several months."

"That's because this is the first time in several months our children haven't been off gallivanting on some dangerous adventure," Dad grumbled.

"Hey, you know that's not true!" Seth exclaimed indignantly. "We haven't done _anything_ particularly adventurous since Zzyzx."

Kendra gave her brother a pointed look. Had he really forgotten the events of the past week, or was he just stupid?

Seth's aggravation deflated a little was he realized his mistake. "Well, except for this whole thing," he mumbled. "But really, we haven't done anything dangerous in _ages_."

"Really," Dad said flatly. "What about milking Viola?"

Seth rolled his eyes. "Dad, Viola's not dangerous. She's just a giant cow."

"A cow that can squash you as soon as look at you," Mom pointed out.

"Hey! Whose side are you on, anyway?" Seth protested.

Mom held up her hands to calm him down. "I'm not on anyone's side. I'm just stating facts."

Seth glanced over at Kendra. "Come on, Kendra, back me up," he pleaded.

His sister shook her head emphatically. "No way," she said. "You dug yourself into this hole; you get yourself out of it."

Seth looked around for someone to help him, but the odds were against him. "Can we start over?" he asked.

"Yes, why don't we," Mom said, looking over at Dad.

Dad cleared his throat. "Look, your mother and I have been talking, and we've decided that we're going to move back to New York."

"Really? You and Mom?" Seth asked, surprised.

"No, you moron, all of us," Kendra said. She looked over at Mom and Dad. "Right?"

Mom nodded. "Now—"

"But you can't just do that!" Seth exclaimed. He leapt up from his chair. "Kendra, tell them how stupid they're being!"

"Seth, they're kind of our _parents_…"

"So? I'm your brother and you call me stupid all the time."

Dad interrupted their debate. "We can and we will," he said firmly.

"What we mean is that this decision was not made lightly," Mom said gently. "We know Fablehaven means a lot to you guys. It's come to mean a lot to us, too, over these past few months. We've all made special memories here. But we don't think it's what's best for our family."

Kendra squirmed uncomfortably at this statement. They had been a family before, with game nights and movie nights and all that fun stuff. But since that summer two years ago when she and Seth had discovered the truth about Fablehaven, they hadn't been very close to their parents anymore. They had begun to drift apart over the magical world, Mom and Dad on one side and Kendra and Seth on the other. She couldn't help but feel guilty.

Seth, apparently, didn't feel the same. "You can't just do that!" he repeated desperately. "We can't _leave_. I mean, Fablehaven is awesome. It's the sort of place you only read about in books. It's not the kind of thing you just walk away from."

"Seth, I know you've been living in a fantasy land for the past few years," Mom said kindly. It was the kind of tone you expected to hear right before a big letdown. "But you need to face reality. What about school? How are you going to get a job if you don't finish your education?"

"I have kind of missed school," Kendra admitted quietly. Home school wasn't the same as high school.

"Jeez, Kendra, are you even related to me?" Seth exclaimed. "Listen to yourself!"

"I would, but I can't hear myself over your complete idiocy," she retorted.

"_Idiocy?_ You're calling _me_ an idiot when you're saying you want to move away from Fablehaven?"

"I'm not saying I want to move away from Fablehaven, I'm just saying it might be the right thing to do!" Kendra shouted.

Silence fell. Even the soft mutterings from the other adults in the kitchen faded away. A blush crept into Kendra's cheeks as she realized that the rest of the house probably heard her scream.

Warren opened the kitchen door and poked his head out. "Just wanted to let you guys know that we've got about three hours until sundown, so if there's anything you want to do outside you should do it soon," he said.

Curiosity temporarily overriding his anger, Seth asked, "What happens at sundown?"

"Tonight's the autumnal equinox," Mom explained. "One of the four festival nights."

"We're staying here?" Kendra asked, startled. She and Seth had only been at Fablehaven for one festival night, and the ensuing disaster was enough to convince Grandpa to send them off to a hotel for the next one. She was fairly certain that Seth had learned his lesson and wouldn't cause any trouble this time around, but she was surprised that their parents wanted to stay. The festival nights were possibly the most dangerous times to be at Fablehaven, since any creature could roam anywhere on the preserve.

Dad nodded, though he looked displeased. "Your grandfather had forgotten until this morning, and by then it was too late to make other plans."

"What about—"

Kendra interrupted her brother. "Can I go outside?" she asked.

Mom and Dad looked at each other doubtfully.

"Come _on_. I've been cooped up in the car all day and I'll go insane if I stay inside any longer. Please?"

"Okay, fine," Mom conceded. "But make sure you're back inside long before sunset."

Kendra nodded in agreement, scooped up her duffel bag, and dashed out of the room. She quickly deposited her bag at the foot of the attic stairs and darted through the kitchen and out the back door before anyone could question what she was doing. She bounded down the deck stairs and across the yard, hardly hesitating as she crossed the tree line into the forest.

She _had_ been cooped up in the car all day, it was true, but she probably could have survived without going outside. But considering tonight was a festival night, there was something she had to check on.

The path she was following was familiar; she knew the route to the Fairy Queen's shrine like the back of her hand. The woods didn't feel nearly as sinister as they had the last time she had come through here. It seemed that light had been restored to the Fairy Realm and the shrine was back to normal.

She emerged from the forest, squeezed through a gap in the hedge, and entered the grassy clearing surrounding the pond. The shrine was hardly recognizable as the barren, desolate landscape they had last encountered. The pond was once again filled with clear, sparkling water; splashes were visible where the naiads had disturbed the surface. The foliage on the island had regained its vitality and shone with all the colors of early autumn.

Kendra scanned the island for signs of movement, but saw nothing. Had Bracken and Brynn returned to the Fairy Realm?

She approached the boathouse. She didn't particularly want to cross the lake; there was no point in struggling against the naiads if no one was on the island for her to talk to, but she had to give it a try.

"Kendra?"

Startled, she spun around and lost her balance. She came alarmingly close to the water before strong arms caught her and heaved her back onto dry land.

"Bracken?"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," he said. Seeing that she had regained her balance, he released her arm.

"I – I just wanted to see you – and Brynn too, I mean – before the festival night," Kendra stammered. She had just caught sight of his face, and what she saw there disturbed her. His gaze was polite but cool and strangely emotionless. Wasn't he as glad to see her as she was to see him?

"Do you have a message to deliver?" Bracken asked.

_Why does he have to been so formal? Why can't he just relax a little? This is so awkward. It makes no sense!_ Stifling her internal panic, Kendra asked, "Will you guys be all right tonight?"

"Brynn is on the island constructing precautionary defenses," he replied. "Few creatures would dare come near the shrine, though, even on a festival night."

"Oh. Well, that's good." _What happened? Why is he being this way? He's acting like we hardly know each other!_

Bracken's expression softened; he seemed just a little bit less detached. "Kendra—" he began.

Kendra interrupted him. "What happened? Why are you acting this way?" she demanded. "I thought we—I mean, it seemed like—" She wasn't sure how to articulate her thoughts. She had _assumed_ that thought of her maybe as a little more than a friend. It had certainly seemed that way. But what if she was wrong?

Bracken cut her off by sweeping her up in a tight embrace and drawing her close. Kendra's heart pounded at the suddenness of the movement.

"I know," Bracken whispered, his mouth right next to her ear. "I know exactly what you mean. And I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to end up this way."

Kendra stiffened. That sounded suspiciously like something he would say before breaking up with her. Not that they had been together in the first place, of course, but still, this wasn't going to end well. She recalled how she had thought he was going to kiss her back in the Fairy Realm and how he had abruptly pulled away. The signs had been there for a while; she just hadn't known where to look for them. She hadn't known to look for them at all. She hadn't thought anything was wrong.

She pulled away from him. "How long were you planning on stringing me along?" she challenged. "How long was it going to take you to get the guts to say something? Rather than letting me keep hoping in vain."

Confusion flashed across Bracken's face. "Kendra, what are you saying?"

"I'm saying I'm done with your stupid games!" she shouted. "I know I'm not all-powerful or immortal like you are, but that doesn't mean I'm just something you can play with and then put away when you get bored."

"Kendra, I would never—that's not what I meant!"

Kendra ignored his protests. She wasn't going to give him another chance to charm her. "It's too late for that. I can see it in your eyes. You don't _want_ to lead me on; you're _noble_ enough to feel guilty about it. But you have no guts! No guts to end things before I got my hopes up."

"Kendra, wait! I don't think you—"

She couldn't maintain her angry façade any longer. Already it threatened to crack and let how she really felt show through. Without waiting to hear what else Bracken had to say, she turned on her heel and strode briskly back into the forest.

She made it in the nick of time; she had barely passed through the hedge when the tears that had been welling up in her eyes overflowed. How could she have been so stupid?

She heard no sounds of pursuit from behind. _Good_. She wasn't sure she could take it if he came after her, begging for forgiveness. But at the same time she couldn't help feeling hurt. This really showed how much he cared: not at all.

It was darker now. Kendra glanced up at the sky; sunset was much closer than Warren had predicted. She quickened her pace, wiping her eyes as she went. The last thing she needed was for Seth to see that she had been crying.

When she saw Dad waiting for her at the edge of the yard, though, tears threatened to return. He looked like he was going to say something, but she brushed past him and kept walking. The house was in sight; if she timed it right, she could make it to her room before completely breaking down.

"Don't worry, Dad," she called over her shoulder. "I promise I won't be running off to save _that boy_ anymore."

Fine. If he didn't want her around anymore, then she wouldn't be. And if Mom and Dad wanted to move back to New York, maybe that was for the best after all. It was clear that _she_, at least, wasn't needed here any longer.

Bracken and Brynn would just have to find a way to defeat Ronodin on their own.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, far away at the shrine to the Fairy Queen, two unicorns prepared for the raucous night ahead. Well, one was preparing; the other stood at the edge of the island, gazing up at the sky.<p>

Brynn finished her enchantments and went over to stand beside her brother. Even when she was right next to him, he refused to turn and look at her. She sighed. Hopefully he wasn't going to mope all evening.

Without taking his eyes off the stars that had begun to appear over the horizon, Bracken muttered, "Go ahead. Say it. I know you've been dying to."

Brynn said nothing. She knew what he was referring to, but saying something about it would only make the situation worse.

"It's been drilled into us since we were born, I know," Bracken went on. "Don't associate with mortal beings. No good can come of it. You've probably lectured me on it more times than Mother has, and that's saying something, considering the talk I got after we returned from Shoreless Isle."

"Maybe I was wrong," Brynn admitted.

"No, you were absolutely right. I just didn't realize _how_ you would be right."

Brynn was silent, but Bracken needed no prompting to answer her unspoken question.

"Nothing good can come of it for either of us. If _he_ gets close to her, thinking he can use her to get at me… It can't end well."

"So you still care for her." It was an observation, but it was also intended as a question.

"It's safer for her this way. He can't get at her now."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"Then I don't know how to answer your question."

"How can this be the right thing to do when it causes such anguish for both of you?"

"You tell me, Brynn, because honestly, I have no idea."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>

Wow, an update! I'm just as surprised as you are. This chapter had been sitting in my notebook for ages, waiting to be typed up, but I could never motivate myself to do anything with it. It's certainly not my favorite chapter; it's one of those awkward transition chapters that you need to have so things aren't jumping from adventure to adventure. I like to think of it as "that chapter where everyone's mad at each other and nothing gets accomplished." Maybe that's what made it difficult for me to write it.

Except for the part at the end between Bracken and Kendra – I had way too much fun writing that. Not because I _want_ them to break up, but because they're one of my favorite fictional couples of all time and I couldn't resist the opportunity to create drama between them. The bit at the very end with Bracken and Brynn was an afterthought, but I decided I couldn't just leave it hanging. Instead I gave a little bit of insight into Bracken's mind – make of that what you will.

I apologize for the unedited state of this chapter. As I was typing it up I decided that it wasn't worth the effort. If I was trying to get this published or was turning it in for a grade, I would absolutely be going through and fixing typos and rewriting this within an inch of its life. As it is, though, I'm just writing this because I enjoy telling the story.

As for the story itself – there will be more plot development in the next chapter, I promise. And at some point after that, we'll reach the scene I've been planning in my head for months now – the epic final battle scene. Until next time!


	15. Illusion?

**Chapter Fifteen**

"Kendra, wake up! It's time for breakfast," Mom called.

Kendra groaned and rolled over. _Just five more minutes,_ she thought lazily.

She wasn't exactly in the mood to face her family. Dinner the night before had been tense. Seth hadn't been speaking to Mom and Dad because he was mad that they wanted to move, and he hadn't been speaking to Kendra because he was mad at her for siding with them. Dad had glared sullenly at his plate for most of the meal, still bitter that Brynn had bewitched him. Grandpa had been exhausted after spending all day restoring order to the creatures of light on the preserve; he kept nodding off until Grandma gently poked him awake. Kendra had spent the entire meal stewing over _his_ rejection and trying her hardest not to think about _him_, which only resulted in her thinking _more_. Through this all, Warren had tried to make light of the situation, but after his fifth attempt to make conversation died, even he had given up.

To sum things up, they hadn't been a very happy family.

She could only recall the festival night in vague bits and pieces; she just remembered being peculiarly tired and going to bed early. Seth, too, had conked out just before nine o'clock. She blamed it on jetlag.

"Kendra, I'm not going to call you again! And I'm not driving you if you miss the bus."

_…What?_ Kendra's sleep-addled brain tried to process what Mom had said. What bus? She and Seth didn't take the bus to school anymore; they were home-schooled. Had Mom and Dad decided to switch back to public schooling? They would have to eventually, if they were planning to move away from Fablehaven. That wasn't the sort of thing they could arrange overnight, though. Something strange was going on…

"Kendra Sorenson!"

"Jeez, Mom, I'm coming!" Kendra shouted back. She threw off the covers and swung her feet to the ground. She rubbed her eyes and took in the morning light.

Her eyes widened.

She closed her eyes. Opened them. Nothing changed.

Cautiously Kendra stood up. _How is this _possible_?_

Gone was the attic bedroom she had lived in with Seth for the past several months. Gone were the old toys and other paraphernalia that had littered the ground. In their place was the bedroom where she had spent the first fifteen years of her life – her bedroom in her family's home in Rochester.

But that wasn't possible. They'd sold the house months ago, before they made the permanent (or so they had thought at the time) move to Fablehaven. Some nice old couple lived here now. And besides, there was no way she could have gotten here from Fablehaven in the space of one night – especially since that night had been a festival night.

_The festival night!_ Kendra leapt up. Something must have happened the previous night, when all of Fablehaven's most dangerous creatures had been free to roam the preserve. Some creature must have gotten into the house and caused some damage. _That doesn't make sense, though,_ Kendra thought. _I would have woken up. And what are the odds of something getting into the house in the first place? Plus, that doesn't explain how I am _in my bedroom_ in a house I haven't lived in for _months_._ None of the pieces added up.

The door swung open, revealing an irate-looking Mom. "Come on, you're going to be late," she snapped.

"What happened? Why aren't we at Fablehaven?" Kendra asked.

Mom sighed exasperatedly. "Not this again. You and your brother have been reading too many fantasy novels. He just asked me the same question."

"Did you forget everything? Remember that B - Bracken –" (she stumbled over his name; his cold, detached demeanor from the night before was still fresh in her mind) "came for dinner on my birthday and was possessed by Ronodin—"

"Kendra, I really don't have time for this," Mom interrupted. "I've got a big presentation today and I can't be late for work. This just sounds like some vivid dream you had."

"Grandma and Grandpa Sorenson!" Kendra cried. "We went to Fabl – to their house for the past two summers. Remember?"

Mom paused on her way out. "You're the one who seems to have trouble remembering. We spent the last two summers with your Grandma and Grandpa Larsen. You haven't seen your other grandparents since you were two and Seth was a newborn. Now sort yourself out, come downstairs, and eat something before school."

Kendra stared after Mom as she left her room and headed back downstairs.

_She was acting like she didn't remember anything. No, like Fablehaven never existed at all!_

Kendra's bedroom door opened once again.

"I'm coming, I'm com—oh, it's you," Kendra said as Seth entered her room.

Glancing around surreptitiously, Seth shut the door behind him. He then took Kendra completely off guard by throwing himself to the floor, on his knees at her feet. He clasped his hands together and begged, "Oh, please tell me that _someone_ in this world is sane!"

Kendra nudged him with her foot and he scrambled to his feet.

"Of course I'm sane, drama queen," she said. "It's everyone else who's gone crazy."

"You remember everything too?" Seth asked.

"If you're talking about Fablehaven, then yes," Kendra replied, "and we've got a big problem on our hands. Come on, we can talk about it on the bus."

Seth gaped at her, horrorstruck. "You're going to _school?_" he asked incredulously.

"Of course!" Kendra exclaimed. "What better place to figure out what's going on?" Her voice dropped to a whisper. "Without suspicious parents listening in."

Seth relaxed. "But we don't actually have to go to class, right?"

"Or suspicious teachers," Kendra added.

Her brother groaned. "Fine. But you're going to pay me back for this day you're making me waste on _education_ when we've got a crisis to solve!"

* * *

><p>Several kids were already at the bus stop when Kendra and Seth got there. Kendra didn't know any of them particularly well; she only recognized some by name because she had shared a bus stop with them for the past few years. She and Seth found it easy to stand apart from the rest of the group and discuss what was going on.<p>

Seth was in full detective mode – at least, an imitation of detectives from crime shows on television. "Let's review what we know first," he said.

"We don't much, except that we went to sleep at Fablehaven last night and woke up here this morning," said Kendra.

"We also know that last night was a festival night, the autumnal equinox," Seth reminded her. "What do we know about festival nights?"

Kendra rolled her eyes. "We're not actually solving a crime here," she muttered, but she answered his question nonetheless. "There are four nights every year when all the creatures of Fablehaven roam free. No boundaries apply, but they can't get in the house unless, oh, I don't know, someone _opens a window._"

Seth brushed away her reminded of the mistake he had made on Midsummer's Eve during their first visit to Fablehaven. "Don't dig up ancient history," he said briskly. "We—"

Whatever he was going to say next was cut off by the roar of an engine as a bright yellow school bus rounded the corner and rumbled toward them. There was a clamor to get on the bus first, and Kendra and Seth found themselves behind two boys discussing sports.

"Did you see the game last night?"

"I know! It was unbelievable!"

Neither Kendra nor Seth recognized the driver when they finally boarded the bus, but she greeted them by name as if she had been driving them to school every day all year. Several kids called out to them as they made their way to the back of the bus.

"Hey, Seth! Nice game on Wednesday!"

"Thanks." Seth nodded, pretending he knew exactly what they were talking about. "This is bizarre," he said to Kendra under his breath.

"I know," she replied as she waved to a couple of girls who had called her name. She hadn't seen most of these people in months, but they greeted her as if everything was normal. Her once-close friend Alyssa gestured for Kendra to sit next to her, but Kendra smiled apologetically and slid into the open seat across the aisle, followed by her brother.

"I had an idea," Kendra whispered to him. "What if something got into the house last night and caused trouble?"

Seth was shaking his head before she even finished speaking. "We would have noticed that for sure. Plus, someone would have had to open a door or something for anything to get in."

A new, horrifying notion was beginning to form in Kendra's mind. The safety of Fablehaven had been invaded once before by a being that was unhindered by physical obstacles. "What creature do we know that isn't deterred by windows and doors – that can go straight through the walls?" she asked urgently.

Seth's eyes widened. "You don't mean—"

Kendra nodded.

"Ronodin."

* * *

><p>Kendra walked into the cafeteria, starving, exhausted, and feeling frustrated with the world. When the bus had reached school, she and Seth had been forced to separate. She had seriously considered ditching class, but even in this bizarre illusion (or was it?) she couldn't bring herself to abandon her studies. Of course, it was a month into the semester already and Kendra had no idea what was going on in any of her classes. She had bluffed her way through a worksheet in French class, skimmed through <em>To Kill a Mockingbird<em> while the rest of her English class discussed it, and utterly failed a quiz in math. She was usually a good student, but if this continued, she didn't stand a chance of passing.

Kendra shook herself mentally. That wasn't she should be worrying about; who cared about homework when Ronodin was wreaking havoc at Fablehaven?

When she hadn't been struggling to figure out what was going on in her classes, she had been struggling to figure out what was going on with this supposed illusion. The most plausible theory she could come up with was that Ronodin had somehow put an enchantment on her and Seth, but she wasn't sure how he could have gotten close enough to them to do that. She would ask her brother what he thought when she saw him.

She collected a tray of food and scanned the cafeteria for a place to sit. She settled for a mostly empty table near the back of the room. As she walked there, she passed Alyssa again.

"Ohmygosh, did you _see_ him in that movie? He was _so_ cute!"

Kendra sighed wistfully, remembering the days when her biggest worry was whether a cute boy was going to ask her out. Now she would have given anything to be able to sit next to Alyssa and her friends and gossip about all the latest rumors.

Instead she was forced to sit with Seth and discuss what they thought about Ronodin's schemes.

"I can't believe you wouldn't let me ditch!" Seth griped as he dropped his tray on the table beside Kendra. "You would not believe how many weird looks I got when I couldn't find _any_ of my classes. I swear, if I hear one more person say 'stupid freshman,' I'm going to—"

"Relax," Kendra interrupted. "I know how you feel; I've had a lousy morning, too. But do you want to hear my theory on Ronodin or not?"

Seth perked up. "Let's hear it," he said as he dug into his meal.

"We know that Ronodin isn't affected by the boundaries of the preserve, because he got in on the night of my birthday with no trouble. So what would be stopping him from coming to Fablehaven and possessing – well, somebody – again?" she suggested.

Seth swallowed his mouthful and gulped some water. "You think that's what happened?" he asked, wiping his mouth on his sleeve.

Kendra shrugged. "I'm not sure. I'm just tossing ideas around. That wouldn't explain how you and I got here… Although I guess if he possessed – um – a unicorn, Ronodin might have the power to create an illusion like this." She gestured vaguely around them.

"I know this doesn't really relate to the conversation, but can I say something?" Seth asked. Without waiting for Kendra's approval, he went on, "Why won't you say Bracken's name?"

Kendra flinched. She turned away from Seth so her expression wouldn't give her away and took a sudden interest in her salad. "I don't know what you mean," she lied.

"Come on, I just want to know what's going on," Seth said. "You're head over heels for the guy – or at least you were last I checked."

She tore furiously into her lettuce with her fork. "I don't know what you're talking about. There was never anything—"

"That's a lie and you know it and I know it," Seth interrupted. "Now what happened?"

Kendra sighed. "He doesn't want anything to do with me," she muttered, staring down at her tray. The lettuce began to swim in front of her eyes.

Seth snorted, clearly not believing her. "I find _that_ hard to believe. Did you _see_ him during those first couple of months after we got back from Shoreless Isle? And the guy showed up for your birthday. Clearly he's interested. Maybe you just caught him at a bad time. He's been having a lousy week, you know."

"That makes all of us," Kendra murmured. She still wasn't convinced that tears weren't going to spill over. "Thanks for your support, but can we please go back to talking about Ronodin?"

Seth wisely dropped the topic and didn't bring it up again for the rest of lunch. By the time the bell rang, they had several plausible theories but were no closer to figuring out how to break the illusion – if, indeed, that's what it was.

The two stood near the back of the crowd of students waiting to get out of the lunchroom.

"Do we _have_ to go to our afternoon classes?" Seth complained.

"Yes," Kendra said firmly. "On the off chance that this is real, I'm _not_ risking a detention for skipping."

"Ugh. Fine," Seth grumbled. He gave Kendra a halfhearted wave as he headed down the hall to his locker.

Kendra sighed as she watched him disappear into the crowd of kids, oblivious to the bustle around her. Maybe they _could_ ditch… After all, it wasn't like they were going to learn anything useful in class. Useful for stopping Ronodin, at least.

She came to her senses and berated herself silently. She was starting to sound like Seth! She joined the crush of students, heading for her next class.

She had just reached her history classroom when she felt something brush her hand. Assuming it was someone pushing past her in a hurry to get to class, she ignored it and entered the room.

Kendra went through the usual movements of pretending she knew everyone and waiting until the rest of the class had sat down before taking the only empty seat. As she dropped her books on her desk, the feeling that someone was touching her hand returned. This time there was no one near her who could possibly be causing it.

She glanced around, looking for a logical reason, but she saw nothing that could explain why it felt like something was tickling her hand. She clenched her right hand in a fist in an effort to suppress the sensation.

The bell rang and the teacher called class to order. After taking attendance, he began lecturing on the Industrial Revolution. Kendra struggled to pay attention, clutching her pencil tightly in her right hand as she attempted to take notes, but it was a lost cause. Once she thought about the tingle in her palm, it was all she could think about until—

"Ms. Sorenson, is there a problem?"

Kendra paused in rubbing her hand against the metal spiral of her notebook. She looked up to meet the cool gaze of her teacher. Swallowing nervously, she shook her head, picked up her pencil, and returned to copying notes from the board.

When at last the teacher went back to his lesson, Kendra turned to glare at her hand, which was still tingling faintly.

_Paying attention was hard enough before, but this is—argh!_

It was going to be a long afternoon.

* * *

><p>Kendra didn't get the chance to talk to her brother for the rest of the school day. By the time she got from her locker to the bus after school got out, there were no empty seats left, so she was forced to squeeze in beside Alyssa. She glanced helplessly up the aisle to where her brother sat several rows ahead, surrounded by other boys his age. She sighed; any further discussion would have to wait. Instead she made an effort to pay attention to Alyssa, who was chattering on about some actor.<p>

"…And then I saw his latest movie last weekend. Have you seen it yet? Ohmygosh, did you _see_ him in that movie? He was _so_ cute!"

Kendra nodded absentmindedly. Alyssa didn't seem to need any encouragement to keep the conversation going. She continued on without seeming to draw breath.

"That's nice, Alyssa," Kendra said suddenly. "Oh, this is my stop. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

Alyssa nodded cheerfully. As Kendra shouldered her backpack and stood, Alyssa turned to the girl in the seat across the aisle and resumed the conversation as if there had been no interruption. Kendra rolled her eyes and quickened her pace to catch up with Seth as he got off the bus.

"That was _weird_," Seth complained. "All they wanted to talk about was the game last night – I don't even know what _sport_ it was – or the youth football game on Wednesday. Apparently I'm on the football team."

"Has football season even started?" Kendra asked.

Seth shrugged. "Guess so. I feel so out of the loop."

"Hopefully we'll figure this out and things can get back to normal so we won't have to worry about this anymore," Kendra said.

"Speaking of figuring things out, let's stop at that ice cream place before we go home," Seth suggested. "We can talk without Mom or Dad listening in."

"You just want to eat ice cream," Kendra teased.

"Yeah, I'm starving! I hardly ate anything at lunch. I forgot how bad cafeteria food is."

"Me too. Let's go supplement our diets with frozen sugar."

During the walk to the ice cream parlor, Kendra discovered that the tingle in her right hand had returned. She groaned and scratched at it in vain.

Seth gave her a funny look. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"Just an itch," Kendra explained. "It's been bugging me all afternoon."

"You don't have fleas or anything, do you?" he asked, backing away as if she were contagious.

"Relax. You're more of an animal than I am," Kendra said. "It'll go away if I stop thinking about it."

This proved easier said than done, though. After they placed their orders, Kendra found she had to hold her ice cream in her left hand since she was unable to form a fist with her right.

"This – is – insane," she hissed to Seth as they exited the store and walked up the street.

"Stop thinking about it," Seth suggested unhelpfully as they waiting for the light to turn at an intersection. Kendra glared at him. "You _sure_ it isn't fleas?"

"Shut up. Wait, weren't we going to cross the street?"

The light had turned green, but instead of crossing they had turned back the way they had come.

"Oh, right. Come on, before the light changes—"

They returned to the intersection. As they attempted to cross this time, though, they found that they couldn't step from the sidewalk into the street; they automatically turned around and went back in the opposite direction.

Kendra turned around and glared at the crosswalk. "That is _not_ normal," she declared.

Without warning, Seth ran out into the middle of the street. He proceeded to do what looked like a strange dance; he flipped back and forth while standing in place, exactly where the two roads intersected.

Kendra ran out and dragged him back to the sidewalk before he got himself run over. "Are you _crazy_?" she demanded.

Seth shook his head. "Watch this car," he instructed, indicating a red minivan that was now approaching the intersection.

Kendra rolled her eyes but did as he asked.

The minivan paused at the now red light. When the light turned green, it lurched forward, drove into the intersection – and disappeared.

Kendra gasped.

But it hadn't disappeared. At least, not entirely. The hood of the minivan appeared seemingly from nowhere, this time in the other lane and going back the way it had come. Kendra watched in shock as the rear of the van disappeared from the far lane and reappeared in the nearer one. The newly whole minivan, apparently unaware of the phenomenon it had just encountered, continued driving as if nothing had happened.

"_That's_ not normal either," Seth remarked, casually licking his ice cream cone.

"What _is_ that?" Kendra wondered. "It's like some sort of barrier."

"Ronodin doesn't want anyone leaving," Seth guessed.

"You think Ronodin is behind this?" Kendra asked.

"Absolutely. There's no other logical—"

Kendra cut him off with a startled scream. The tingling in her right had had suddenly become unbearable. She dropped her ice cream cone and clutched her wrist. She _felt_ something in her right hand – the weight of it pressed into her palm – and her fingers closed instinctively around it.

"Kendra – what the – are you okay?"

_Kendra?_

Kendra flinched. The second voice had come from inside her head.

_Kendra, can you hear me?_

"Hey! Answer me! Respond! Something!"

"Coin," Kendra gasped, holding out her right had for explanation. It was invisible, but she knew it was there.

_Kendra, please answer. Oh, please let this have worked._

"Brynn?" Kendra asked aloud. She knew Bracken could transform coins into communication devices. Apparently his sister shared the same talent.

"Would you please tell me what's going on!" Seth cried, frustrated.

_Tell your brother to put his hand on the coin,_ Brynn ordered.

Kendra relayed the instructions, and Seth put his hand doubtfully on top of hers. His eyes widened as he felt the thin piece of metal between their palms.

_I've been trying to get a hold of you for hours. Something terrible has happened,_ Brynn said gravely.

"Yeah, no duh!" Seth exclaimed. "We're back in Rochester, about a hundred miles from Fablehaven!"

This caught Brynn off guard. _No, that isn't possible,_ she said.

"That's what we've been telling ourselves since we woke up here," Kendra said.

_You woke up…? Ah, now I see how it happened._

"Are you going to bother to tell us?" Seth asked impatiently.

_Ronodin has created an alternate reality,_ Brynn explained. _Your minds may see your former home, but your bodies are here at Fablehaven._

One word in particular caught Kendra's attention. "Bodies?" she repeated nervously. "Are we dead?"

_No, you are both very much alive,_ Brynn reassured her. _You are simply in a deep sleep. We have been unable to wake you, but your side of the story explains everything._

"What happened last night during the festival?" Kendra asked. "How did we get like this?"

Brynn didn't respond immediately. When she did reply, her mental voice seemed strained.

_Ronodin has… The dark unicorn has returned._

Seth punched the air, momentarily taking his hand off the coin. "I knew it!" he exclaimed.

"Shh!" Kendra hissed. "I want to hear what else Brynn has to say."

_Bracken and I had planned to spend the night of the festival in the safety of the fairy shrine,_ Brynn began. _When the sun set, we were both on the island, but I sensed all was not right with my brother. His emotions were conflicted._

Kendra cringed, remembering her encounter with Bracken from the night before. _You don't need to worry about him,_ she reminded herself. _He's not interested in you anymore. You don't need to have anything to do with him._

_ I think you're wrong,_ Brynn said suddenly.

Kendra silently cursed herself. She had forgotten that Brynn could hear her thoughts through the coin.

_It's not my place to say, but I do believe my brother cares for you_, Brynn said. _He just needs some time to sort out his emotions. Of course, that will have to wait until Ronodin is defeated._

"Can we get back to the point?" asked Seth. "What happened?"

_Right. Bracken and I had planned to stay at the shrine, but shortly after sundown he returned to the mainland. I thought little of it, because I could tell he needed some time to himself. But as soon as he set foot on the shore – as soon as he left the safety of our mother's shrine – he…_ Brynn paused. _The dark unicorn returned._

"What? Ronodin's back? I thought we kicked his butt!" Seth exclaimed.

_We may have eliminated one of his horns, but Ronodin's spirit is still very much alive. He is – _she paused again, uncertain – _he is unable to take control of Bracken's body at the present time, but the two have engaged in a vicious battle of consciousnesses. Even though his body is unconscious, the strain on my brother's mind is… plainly evident._

"But he'll be okay, right?" Seth asked. "I mean, if Ronodin can't take control, there's nothing he can do to hurt Bracken."

_That depends on how quickly you can eliminate his second horn,_ Brynn said.

"Wait, _us?_" Kendra asked, certain Brynn was mistaken. "We're stuck in this illusion of our hometown. There's not much we can do."

_Your _minds_ are experiencing the illusion,_ Brynn corrected. _Your bodies remain at Fablehaven. Ronodin has woven a complex world with his dark magic._

"How could Ronodin have made a model of the world?" Seth asked. "Doesn't the universe kinda go on forever?"

_This world will have boundaries,_ Brynn clarified. _There may come a line which you cannot cross. _(Kendra, understanding what she meant, pointed to the intersection they had previously tried to cross.) _Were you to tunnel under the earth or fly high in the sky, you would encounter barriers there as well. To put it simply, this illusory world exists within the dimensions of a magical box._

"So what does all of this have to do with Ronodin's second horn?" asked Kendra.

_A fabricated world, even the smallest in size, requires a massive amount of power to create. A steady stream of magical energy is also necessary to sustain it. If Ronodin were to create and preserve a replica of your town, a powerful talisman would need to be present within the illusion. As a spirit, however, the magical items Ronodin is able to handle are significantly limited. In fact, there are only three – now two – that he can touch._

Kendra gasped as comprehension dawned. "So you mean that Ronodin's second horn… is _here?_"


	16. Illusion? Redux

**Chapter Sixteen**

"Still no change?"

"None, neither for good nor ill."

"Is there anything we can—"

"No. This is a battle that Bracken must fight on his own."

"How long can he hold out?"

"I'm not certain. Nothing like this has ever been recorded. Of course, there are many things that have never been recorded as far as spirits are concerned."

"Why could Ronodin come back like this? Didn't the Memory Glass work?"

"It did work… at first. When Bracken saw himself in the mirror, he was able to thrust Ronodin's spirit from his body. The residual magical left by the Memory Glass should have been enough to keep the dark unicorn from returning."

"So what happened?"

"The Glass was broken, smashed, shattered beyond repair. Any protection it may have created is now lost."

"What about what Bracken did to escape him the first time – the Final Sanctuary?"

"As the term 'final' implies, the Final Sanctuary is supposed to endure forever. An enchantment of that magnitude takes an enormous amount of physical and mental energy. In his current state, Bracken is incapable of using even the slightest amount of magic."

"So we just sit and wait?"

"Yes."

Silence; a brief, slightly awkward pause which lasted only a few seconds.

"I'm going to go see if Stan needs any help."

"How much of the house has been taken?"

"Too much. The entire downstairs; only the attic rooms are completely untouched. Soon this will be our own final sanctuary."

"I will see if I can rally the fairies to us."

"Careful. It's a war zone out there."

Footsteps; a door closed softly. Two new voices spoke.

"When will Kendra and Seth wake up?"

"Brynn said she talked to them, so hopefully soon."

"She talked to them three days ago and we haven't heard anything since. Will they really be able to destroy Ronodin's horn?"

"They've got to find it first. After that, I don't know."

Another pause.

"I wish we could do something to help them."

"Me too. But all the battles are going on in places we can't see."

* * *

><p>"Kendra, wake up! It's time for breakfast," Mom called.<p>

Kendra groaned and rolled over. _Five more minutes,_ she thought lazily.

Suddenly she sat up, throwing the covers off her. It was the same every morning – Mom called to her, but she wanted to roll over and go back to sleep. She _refused_ to get sucked into the routine.

It was alarming how familiar the morning ritual of getting ready for school had become. In just four days she and Seth had retrained themselves to get up on time, dress quickly, and leave the house before the bus came. All these things had been normal for them at one time, but they had become used to a relaxed schedule during months of 'homeschooling' at Fablehaven.

After surveying her closet, Kendra threw on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt (she forced herself to wear something different every day – she wouldn't let herself be pulled into the loop) and bounded down the stairs.

Mom had already left for work (she, of course, still had that important presentation to do at work – like every day), but Seth joined Kendra in the kitchen.

"Still September twenty-third?" he asked, reaching for a box of cereal.

Kendra nodded to the newspaper on the table – in the same place, open to the same section, as always. "See for yourself."

Seth scanned the headlines, though by now he knew them by heart. "The pool is still closing on Sunday, the movie critic still hates that new art flick, and Congress is still voting on that bill today," he confirmed.

The siblings sat at the table with their respective bowls of cereal. Try as they might to resist the routine, they had still developed some habits.

As always, Seth suggested, "We could skip today, you know."

And Kendra replied, "We've got to keep going to going to school."

"If this keeps up, pretty soon I'm going to know every answer on that history quiz," Seth grumbled. "It wouldn't _matter_ if we missed school – we could just do it again tomorrow."

Kendra had nothing to say to that.

Upon waking on their second day in Ronodin's illusion, the two had discovered that everything was the same – exactly the same. It was the same day looped back on itself – September twenty-third, the day after the autumnal equinox. Communications with Brynn via the coin had revealed that time was progressing normally in the "real world"; the loop was just a limitation of the illusion.

Other repetitions soon presented themselves. It seemed that when creating the illusion, Ronodin had strived to keep everything as simple as possible – thus the repeating day. Every day at school they learned the same lessons and took the same tests. They even ate the same lousy cafeteria food. Their peers were like mindless robots; they seemed to be reciting the same script every day. Kendra had decided that if she heard Alyssa gush over that actor one more time, she might actually explode.

Seth stood up, shoving his chair back from the table. "I'm going to try that abandoned warehouse after school," he announced.

Kendra shook her head emphatically. "Not a chance," she answered.

"Come on!" Seth protested. "It's our best shot."

Kendra sighed; she knew her brother was right.

At Brynn's suggestion they had calculated the center of the magical "box"; it seemed like a logical location for Ronodin's second horn. They had located the illusion's boundaries, (roughly) reassured the distance, and found the approximate center: an abandoned warehouse in the middle of town.

It seemed particularly promising because neither of the siblings had recalled its existence before discovering it in this world.

Seth had been all for storming the warehouse right then and there, but Kendra had remained more cautious. She had pointed out that even though this wasn't real, getting thrown in jail for trespassing _would_ set them back. So instead they watched and waiting. Every day after school they had observed the building from various angles, but no one seemed to enter or exit it. This had only increased Seth's confidence that the warehouse _was_ the location of Ronodin's horn.

"Kendra, it's been _four days_," Seth said, trying a different tactic. "I know Brynn says nothing's changing on the outside, but really, how long can Bracken hold out?"

Kendra cringed as she always did when Bracken's name was mentioned, but she brushed it away. She wouldn't let her personal feelings interfere with the issue at hand.

"Fine," she conceded. "_After_ school, though."

"School? Really?" Seth complained.

"You never know," Kendra said. "You might actually learn something!"

* * *

><p>Seth scrutinized the large industrial-looking building intently. Now that he thought about it, it was quite obvious that the warehouse didn't belong in this suburban town. It stuck out like a sore thumb beside the quaint little shops and town houses that surrounded it. He wasn't really sure if it could count as "beside" anything, seeing how the nearest building was separated by thirty feet and a ten-foot fence.<p>

"Was that fence here yesterday?" he wondered aloud.

Kendra shrugged. "We didn't come this close," she replied. "We only checked to see if the building was still here."

The two siblings were standing safely across the street from the warehouse's main entrance. At least, they assumed it was the main entrance, because there was a gate built into the fence, but they had seen no evidence of the door on the warehouse itself.

This raised the question of how they were going to get in, but Seth wasn't concerned with the smaller details of their mission.

"I think it wasn't," he decided. "It must have appeared overnight. I definitely would have taken a giant fence with barbed wire at the top into account when I was making my plans."

Kendra snorted disbelievingly.

"I'm in charge of this mission; of course I made plans," Seth said indignantly.

"If this is anything like your plans for the 'zombie apocalypse'…" Kendra muttered. She broke off as Seth shoved a creased and wrinkled piece of notebook paper under her nose.

She inspected her brother's drawings with a critical eye. He really had put more effort into drawing his stick figures than usual. Two crudely drawn people labeled "Kendra" and "Seth" stood next to a rectangle identified as "warehouse". A star inside the rectangle was marked as "Ronodin's horn." An arrow was drawn from the stick figures to the rectangle.

"Very sophisticated," Kendra observe sarcastically. "Where's the rest?"

"What rest?" Seth asked.

Kendra rolled her eyes. "Nice."

"It was all I could come up with on short notice," Seth said. "Even the most experienced field operatives need time to refine their plans."

"Which means _you_ would need about a year," Kendra retorted.

"I don't see you coming up with anything better," Seth said defensively.

"Well, let's see if we can figure out how to get in," Kendra suggested.

The two crossed the street. As they neared the warehouse, Kendra decided that the fence probably hadn't been there before. The thought that he was looking at them _right now_ made the hair on the back of her neck stand up.

She fingered the invisible coin in her pocket nervously. _Why doesn't he just make a rock fall out of the sky or something and just squish us right now?_

She wasn't expecting a response from the coin. The last they'd heard from Brynn was two days ago when Bracken's sister had reported that time was moving normally in the outside world. The unicorn had seemed distracted then, and Kendra suspected that not everything was right at Fablehaven. But she and Seth had other problems, so she had shoved the thought to the back of her mind and tried not to dwell on what it might mean that Brynn wasn't responding to communications.

So she was surprised when she felt a tentative murmur of thought in her mind in response to her thought. _Kendra?_

_Brynn!_ Kendra thought in surprise.

_I only have a moment,_ Brynn thought hurriedly, _but I think I can answer your question._

_ Wait! _Kendra protested. _What's happening at Fablehaven?_

Brynn ignored her. _Magically, there's nothing preventing Ronodin from doing whatever he wants in his own illusion. It could be that he is unaware of what you and your brother are doing._

Somehow, Kendra thought this unlikely, considering the ten-foot fence that had sprung up overnight. She mentioned as much to Brynn.

The unicorn's thoughts turned down a more negative path. _That can't be good,_ she murmured. _I had hoped that Ronodin was too engaged in his conflict with my brother to worry about his second horn, but it seems that is not the case. That may mean—_

Brynn's reply cut off suddenly.

Kendra grabbed the coin in her fist. _Brynn?_ she called out mentally.

For a moment, there was no reply. When Brynn spoke again, her mental voice was calm, but strained, as if she was barely containing her composure. _I'm sorry, Kendra, but a matter has arisen that needs immediate attention. I will contact you again as soon as time allows_.

_Wait! Brynn!_

Silence.

Frustrated, Kendra sighed and released the coin. She couldn't let her worries about her family and friends distract her, but each piece of news they heard from the real world made it more difficult to focus on their mission. She told herself sternly that the best thing she and Seth could do was destroy Ronodin's horn. There would be plenty of time for her to have an emotional breakdown after that was done.

"Yo, earth to Kendra!" Seth exclaimed. "Are you going to stand there staring into space all day?"

Kendra blinked and came back to the present. They were now standing in front of the gate at the front of the warehouse. Closer examination showed that the gate was locked with a chain and padlock; they wouldn't be getting in that way.

"How do you think we're going to get over this thing?" she asked.

Seth looked at her in disbelief. "That's the easy part!" he said as if surprised she hadn't thought of it herself. He leaped onto the fence, wedging his toes in between the links and clutching at the metal above with his hands. Like a spider on a web he began to scramble up the barrier.

"Get down from there!" Kendra cried. That was so like Seth, always charging in without thinking about it first. There was _barbed wire_ at the top – how was he planning to get over that?

"Why?" Seth called back. "So we can argue back and forth about how to get over before you admit that I had the right idea in the first place?"

Kendra rolled her eyes. _Boys_, she grumbled silently. Eyeing the fence warily, she placed her hands on the chain links and stated climbing. Her tennis shoes found easy purchase in the gaps, and she soon discovered that it wasn't as difficult as she had thought it would be.

_Don't look down. Don't look down,_ she chanted to herself. She could do this so long as she didn't think of the concrete below her.

A distinct _thud _broke her concentration. She glanced down momentarily to see Seth touching down safely on the other side.

"Mind the wire at the top," he called cheerfully.

Kendra sighed and continued on ward. She reached the top and squeezed her eyes shut as she ducked under the wire. She pressed herself as flat as possible against the top of the fence, despite the discomfort. Once she was clear of the danger zone, she scrambled quickly down to the other side.

"When we get out of the warehouse, we are taking a different way back," Kendra declared, trying to get a grip on her frazzled nervous.

"Come on, that wasn't too bad," Seth said. "We're probably going to see worse stuff inside."

"As long as that stuff's at ground level, I don't care," Kendra muttered as she followed her brother to the warehouse.

"Why barbed wire?" Seth wondered aloud. "I mean, that's something any normal human can climb over. Why not a wall of darkness or something?"

A suspicion had been growing in Kendra's mind, but she hadn't wanted to say it aloud. Now, though, she gave voice to her fear. "Maybe… he _wants_ us to get inside," she murmured.

Seth looked momentarily troubled, but he shook it offer. "Well, with that happy thought, let's figure out how to get in," he said.

"There's no obvious entrance," Kendra observed. "Should we walk around the perimeter just in case?"

Seth agreed, and the two proceeded cautiously around the edge of the building. They had just rounded a corner when Seth stopped suddenly.

"Well, I guess this could be an entrance," he said.

Kendra looked from her brother to the wall of the warehouse and back to Seth again. Was he crazy? There was nothing here but a blank wall!

"What are you talking about? There's nothing here," Kendra said.

Ignoring her, Seth rubbed his hand along the wall. "Wait, no, it's solid, but it feels kinda like…" He trailed off, muttering to himself.

"Seth, _what_ are you—"

"You seriously don't see the big gaping dark hole here?" Seth interrupted.

Kendra sighed exasperatedly. "If I did—"

Seth cut her off again. "Wait, let me try something."

He placed both hands on the wall next to each other. He closed his eyes and furrowed his brow in concentration. Kendra resisted the urge to make fun of his serious expression, remember what he had done at the temple in the jungle. Just because she couldn't see anything strange, it didn't mean that he couldn't.

Suddenly Seth's hands slipped _inside_ the wall as if it were as insubstantial as air. Seth grunted and twisted his arms to get a better angle. Then, ever so slowly, a crack began to from in the wall between Seth's hands. Seth pulled at the crack like someone trying to yank open elevator doors. He tugged and pulled until the two halves of the wall were just far enough apart to let a person slip inside.

Kendra knew her mouth was hanging open, but she couldn't help it. Seth had just opened a hole in a solid metal wall!

Seth let go of the sides of the wall and sighed heavily, wiping sweat from his forehead. He glanced at Kendra.

"You should close your mouth if you don't want to collect bugs," he suggested dryly.

Kendra complied, embarrassed at having been caught in awe of her own brother. "How did you do that?" she asked, trying to seem nonchalant.

Seth shrugged. "You know I can manipulate darkness. There was a dark gap in the wall there, so I just moved it."

"You just moved it," Kendra repeated. He talked about it so casually, but it was an impressive feat! Then again, perhaps he felt the same about the things she could do with her fairykind abilities, things that seemed commonplace to her now.

Of course, considering that most of what she could do involved speaking to fairies and other "girly" things, perhaps not.

But by far the most useful of her powers was the ability to see in the dark, so Kendra took the lead as the siblings cautiously entered the pitch black warehouse.


	17. The Second Horn

**Chapter Seventeen**

The first thing Kendra noticed about the warehouse was the chill in the air. "Cold" was too mild a term to describe it; it sliced effortlessly through her thin clothing (clothing that was perfectly suitable for the early autumn weather outside, but not so much for the frigid warehouse) and bit at her bones. They hadn't gone even five steps inside the building when Kendra was forced to stop, overcome by a shivering fit.

As her teeth chattered and she rubbed her hands up and down her arms in a vain attempt to keep warm, paranoia began to set in. The freezing air wasn't natural, that much was clear. But why had Ronodin waited for them to enter the warehouse before making the temperature plummet? Was his plan to make them freeze to death? What would happen if they died in the dark unicorn's illusion? Would they wake up at Fablehaven, or would their bodies die too, leaving no indication of what had happened?

A few feet from where Kendra had stopped, Seth halted, realizing that his sister was no longer with him. He turned around and stumbled back the way he had come. His eyes flickered from left to right, unseeing. Dimly Kendra realized that it would be pitch dark to him.

She fought to move, to make a noise, to somehow alert Seth to her presence, but she was rooted to the spot, immobile. All of her worst fears seemed to be coming to fruition; Seth wouldn't find her; he would wander alone in the black warehouse until he died, and she would stay here until she froze into an ice sculpture, and Ronodin would win and Bracken would die and the Fairy Realm would fall again—

Seth bumped into her, jarring her from her morbid thoughts. She let out a startled squeal and for a moment the cold didn't feel quite so potent. But then Seth stumbled backward and she froze again in place.

"Kendra?" Seth asked. He fumbled around for a moment before his hand found something to grab onto – her wrist.

Suddenly the temperature of the warehouse returned to normal and Kendra found herself able to move again. Her irrational paranoia from before was gone. She released a breath she hadn't realized she was holding.

"Kendra?" Seth asked again. "Why did you stop?"

_Why wasn't he affected by the cold?_ Kendra wondered. It had been paralyzing; she couldn't move. Then the pieces clicked together – the paralysis, her sudden paranoia.

"Magical fear," Kendra explained. Some magical creatures, like dragons, gave off waves of fear that rendered anyone near them immobile. Almost anyone, at least – shadow charmers, like Seth, were immune. "It caught me off guard. I couldn't move at all."

"Of course," Seth muttered. "He couldn't have made this easy for us. Well, don't let go of me."

"You're holding on to me," Kendra pointed out.

"Oh. Right." Seth adjusted his grip so they were holding hands instead. It was the same way they had maintained contact while fighting Siletta, a poison dragon, at Wyrmroost. As long as the two were touching, magical fear had no effect on either of them.

"I wish we had some handcuffs now," Kendra remarked. Before confronting Siletta, she and Seth had been handcuffed together to avoid being separated.

"They wouldn't be that helpful," Seth objected. "What if we had to fight?"  
>"With what weapons?" Kendra challenged.<p>

"I'm just saying that if it comes down to it, we should be able to jump ship and fight on our own," Seth said.

"You mean _you'd_ jump ship. I'd be frozen," Kendra reminded him.

"Oh. Yeah." Seth deflated slightly. "Well, I'd try to come back for you…"

"No, it's fine," Kendra reassured him. "You're the only one who can resist the fear, so you should just save yourself if that happens."

Seth still looked uncomfortable, which was fine with Kendra. He didn't have to be _too_ eager to run off without her. Finally, he shrugged. "We'll worry about that _if_ it happens. Now, can you see anything?'

Kendra had momentarily forgotten the warehouse in the midst of her panic. Now she looked around, taking in her surroundings.

"It's a hallway," she reported. "The walls are different than they were outside. They look like some sort of stone."

"No boxes or anything?" Seth asked.

"No. It doesn't look anything like a normal warehouse."

"Really? After the door disguised by dark magic and the whole magical fear thing, I never would have guessed."

"You're hopeless," Kendra sighed. "Hey, come over here for a sec." Without waiting for his consent, she dragged Seth (still holding his hand tightly) to a gap in the wall. As she suspected, it led to another hallway, which branched off in another direction.

"It's a maze," she murmured.

"Seriously?" Seth groaned. "I hate mazes."

Kendra looked at her brother strangely. "Since when?"

"Since Obsidian Waste," he admitted. "I still have nightmares about the Dreamstone."

Kendra fought to hide a grin but soon gave up the effort, remembering that Seth couldn't see her. "I sure hope that doesn't slip out in front of Warren," she said teasingly.

"You wouldn't."

"Maybe, maybe not." Kendra couldn't help smiling mischievously.

"That's blackmail!"

"_Maybe_ if we get out of this I'll decide that you've proved yourself worthy and I'll choose not to divulge that particular piece of information in front of anyone you admire," Kendra said.

"You're evil," Seth muttered.

"That's debatable, but we know _Ronodin_ is evil, so maybe we should get a move on and worry about blackmail later," Kendra suggested.

Still grumbling about evil sisters, Seth followed Kendra deeper into the maze. The further they went, the easier it was to forget the suburban neighborhood that lay outside. The walls and floor were made of crudely cut stone, like a dungeon out of the middle ages. However, Kendra suspected that even the nicest dungeons wouldn't have statues stationed at periodic intervals. At each intersection of hallways stood a different statue. They were beautiful works of art, magical creatures carved skillfully into stone. At first Kendra admired the craftsmanship, but as she more closely examined a statue of a phoenix, she became horrified. One of the bird's wings was bent at an odd angle, and where carved eyes should have been there were only empty sockets. As they walked onward Kendra found that every statue was like this – creatures of light, horrifically injured or maimed. After seeing several such statues, she stopped looking.

With no idea how to find Ronodin's horn nor how to navigate the maze to lead them to an unknown destination, Kendra was basically wandering randomly. She figured that since Seth was as good as blind in the darkness, he wouldn't be able to tell that she was as clueless as he was.

Time ceased to mean much in the constant shadows and seemingly identical corridors, but after it felt like they had been walking for quite a while Kendra finally halted. Seth pulled forward for a moment before he realized she had stopped.

"I don't think this is your typical maze," Kendra remarked. Seth opened his mouth, probably to make a sarcastic comment, but she plowed on before he could interrupt. "I mean, that's the fifth time we've passed that statue."

"Wait, there are statues?" Seth exclaimed. "And you didn't think that was important?"

Kendra cringed. "They weren't… worth mentioning," she murmured.

"Are you sure it's not just a bunch of statues that look the same?" Seth asked.

"No, this one is different. I've seen other fairy statues—" She flinched. _Fairies weeping, fairies shackled and chained, fairies with torn wings…_ "—but this one looks like she's holding something in her hands. And the statue's always here in the middle of a hallway, not at a corner like the statues usually are."

"What's she holding?"

Kendra examined the statue more closely. The fairy held her hands out in front of her, as if pleading, and in them she cradled a crystal ball. Kendra relayed this information to Seth.

"This would be so much easier if we could both see," he complained. "Can't you be more descriptive?" He leaned toward the wall, fumbling at the air until his hands brushed against a stone wing.

Too late Kendra realized what he was trying to do. "Seth, wait—"

Seth placed his palm on the glass sphere.

Kendra yanked him back just as the spear exploded. Glass shards flew everywhere, but they vanished with a sizzling hiss, like water on hot stove, as they hit the ground.

Seth reeled and stumbled backward, but Kendra caught and righted him. "You all right?" she asked.

"Yeah, just a little—"

He was cut off by the sudden sound of stone grinding against stone. The fairy slid into the ground and a door opened in the wall where the statue had been.

"What was that?" Seth asked nervously.

"A door," Kendra answered. "Come on!"

She pulled Seth into the new hallway and set a brisk pace. It seemed that the statue had unlocked a new section of the maze. She scanned the walls, noting each statue that was stationed in the center rather than at a corner. She looked only long enough to determine that the statues were empty-handed; she had no desire to see the horrific signs of torture and abuse carved on the creatures. There were a number of fairy statues in this hallway, but not one was holding another crystal ball.

"Is it me, or is it colder in here?" Seth asked.

Kendra didn't reply, but now that he had brought it up, she did notice a slight chill in the air. She had supposed it was some lingering trace of magical fear, but perhaps it wasn't, since Seth could feel it too. She shuddered, remembering the vault at Obsidian Waste preserve, where Vincent Morales had been trapped in a rapidly freezing lake. Hopefully Ronodin wasn't going to try the same thing on them.

After a fair amount more of aimless wandering, Kendra came to realize that there were far fewer statues positioned at corners than those in the middle of a hallway. She took a second glance at one of the corner statues and saw that yes, it was a fairy clutching a crystal ball.

"Here's another one," she reported to Seth. "Just touch it like you did before, I guess."

Seth confidently placed his hand on the sphere. Like before, it shattered, scattering glass pieces that vanished moments later. Kendra had braced herself for the shower of shards, but Seth stumbled sideways. Kendra caught him as the statue slid into the floor and a new door swung open.

Breathing heavily, Seth shook Kendra's hand off and stood shakily. "I'm fine," he said, but without much force behind it. "Let's just rest for a sec before we go on."

Kendra looked him up and down. "I don't think you're _fine_," she said. "You look like you've run up a hill with a bag of bricks on your back."

"That's about what it feels like it," he admitted with a shaky laugh. "I think destroying the spheres takes more than just touching it."

"Your shadow charmer powers?" Kendra guessed.

"Yeah, probably." Seth stood. "I'm fine now. Let's go."

His tone was light, but his eyes still betrayed the strain. Kendra guessed that _fine_ was not the first word he would use to describe how he felt. Much as she wanted to race ahead and get this over with, Kendra set a slower pace for her brother's sake as they moved on.

She noticed immediately as they made their way down the new corridor. Her breath billowed out in front of her in eerie puffs, unusually bright to her eyes in the otherwise dark hallway. She didn't have much time to ponder this new development, though, as the corridor came to an abrupt end and opened up into a large circular room.

A pedestal in the center of the room immediately caught her attention. "There!" she exclaimed, pointing, forgetting that Seth couldn't see her.

There, casually on display, virtually unprotected, lay the horn. Easily twice the size of the first horn they had destroyed in the forest temple, the tapering spiral of the horn protruded slightly over the edge of the pedestal. Unlike Ronodin's first horn, and in stark contrast to any untainted unicorn horn, this one was stained dark blood red.

For reasons Kendra couldn't explain, she _felt_ malevolence emanating from the horn. It seemed to glint evilly, even though there was no light that could be reflecting off of it. Looking at it, thoughts of hopelessness filled Kendra's mind. Thoughts of defeat and fear and—

"Kendra?" Seth asked, distracting her from this depressing train of thought. She glanced back at him, relieved to tear her eyes from the malicious object on the pedestal.

"We may have a problem," he continued. "How are we supposed to destroy this thing without a unicorn of our own?"

A deep voice echoed around the room. "You won't."

Kendra jumped and stifled a scream. She knew that voice!

Then the room plunged into darkness – thick, impenetrable darkness, even to her fairykind eyes. This time she couldn't prevent a startled squeal from escaping her.

She didn't realize she was squeezing Seth's hand until he muttered, "Dude, you're crushing me."

Kendra loosened her grip. "Sorry," she whispered hoarsely.

"Was that Ronodin?" Seth asked.

"Yes," she said, barely suppressing panic, "and now he's done something so I can't see!"

Seth seemed remarkably calm. "Hang on, I think I know what he did," he said patiently. "It feels like it did in the temple in the forest."

Kendra wasn't sure how this helped them. "Okay, so…?"

"Give me a sec. I think I know what I'm doing."

That didn't sound particularly encouraging. Kendra decided to give him thirty seconds rather than just one. She had only counted to seventeen when the darkness suddenly receded, crawling backward away from Seth's now visible outstretched hand.

To Kendra, it didn't look like he was done much more than pointing imperiously at the open air, but his entire arm trembled with the effort. Finally, when he had forced the darkness back to the edges of the room, Seth let his arm drop.

He wiped beads of seat from his forehead. "Man, that took more than I thought it would," he groaned. "At least I can see too, now."

Kendra scarcely heard him. She was already striding toward the pedestal, dragging her brother behind her. She kept a tight grip on his hand; even though he didn't need her to guide him anymore, she needed his protection from the magical fear.

His protection didn't seem to be doing much, though. The tell-tale chill in the air had already begun to set in. It took more of an effort to set one foot in front of the other.

"Seth," she hissed through gritted teeth. "Can't you do anything about this?"

Seth seemed to be straining, his brow furrowing in concentration. "Trying," he muttered.

"I'm afraid you won't be able to do anything against it."

Kendra whirled at the sound of Ronodin's voice, but the dark unicorn was nowhere to be seen. His words seemed to reverberate from the walls themselves.

"You see, in the event that a particularly skilled shadow charmer was able to bypass the traps protecting my first horn, I planned this labyrinth specifically to target those skills," Ronodin drawled. "With each of those crystal spheres your brother destroyed, he used up a great deal of his inner store of darkness. While he may have had a great deal of raw power to begin with, endurance he has not. I imagine he is feeling significantly weaker than he has admitted."

Kendra glanced at her brother. Was Ronodin telling the truth?

Seth shook his head, but he seemed regretful rather than contradictory. "He's right," he whispered.

"Now, you have no way to destroy the horn, no way to escape this illusion, and your sole protection from my wrath is rapidly growing weaker. You will remain here until your bodies grow old and wither away – although they likely won't last that much longer. Soon I will crush the Fairy Prince and the Realm of Light will be—"

Ronodin broke off abruptly.

"What the-?" Seth muttered.

Kendra looked around, expecting some new threat to come charging at them.

"Bah. Stubborn fool," Ronodin cursed.

Kendra's eyes widened as she realized the implications of what Ronodin had said. If after all these days, Bracken was still alive, still fighting—

"Regardless, your chances are nonexistent, your world is doomed, so you would do as well to lie down and let the world end around you." Ronodin chuckled darkly. "It would be easier for you that way."

Kendra and Seth waited, but the dark unicorn said nothing more to taunt them. Then, suddenly, the darkness that had been held at the very edges of the room abruptly returned. Seth stumbled, groaning, as if someone had suddenly dropped a heavy load on him.

"Stupid unicorn – just cranked up the power – a little," Seth choked out. "I don't know – how much longer – I can – hold it off."

"Just do your best," Kendra urged. She eyed the pedestal. If she could just get up there, she could grab the horn. Ronodin seemed confident they wouldn't be able to destroy it, but she wasn't going to give up yet.

"Mind if I do my best on the ground?" Seth asked. "I don't think I'll do much better if we keep holding hands."

"Sure." Kendra released his hand and he sat down gratefully on the ground and closed his eyes. She hoped he was concentrating and not just losing consciousness.

Steeling herself, she took one step away from him, then another. It felt like the very air was pressing down on her, but it wasn't unbearable.

Yet.

How was the pedestal so far away? She'd thought the room was only thirty or so feet across, but that was clearly impossible, because the center of the room was now at least fifty yards away. With each step the distance seemed to double, until the pedestal was barely visible but for the ruby-red twinkle of Ronodin's horn.

Kendra looked back only to see that she was no farther from Seth than when she had started.

Swallowing the urge to scream, she forced herself to think rationally. This was obviously some trick of Ronodin's – an illusion. It wasn't real. She couldn't trust her eyes, then. Closing her eyes, she stepped again in the direction of the pedestal.

That solved one problem, but apparently Ronodin wasn't going to let her off that easily. No sooner did she shut her eyes than the voices began. They weren't loud at first, just whispers at the very edge of her hearing, too soft for her to discern what they were saying. Gradually they became louder, words forming from the gibberish. Kendra's blood ran cold as she recognized the speakers. Mom, Dad, Grandma and Grandpa Sorenson, Warren, Elise, and other friends all pleaded for help, for her to make it stop, for her to turn around and open her eyes so it would all go away.

Despite the barrage upon her ears, Kendra pressed on. She _knew_ this wasn't real; it was just another trick of Ronodin's to make her lose her nerve—

The voices turned angry, screaming and shouting, hurly insults like rocks that battered her eardrums. She found that covering her ears did nothing to muffle the sound. She was forced to listen as her friends and relatives yelled, threatened her, and cursed her name. Perhaps most painful was the knife that reopened fresh wounds: Bracken, his voice full of scorn as he told her that he didn't love her, that he had never even liked her. Kendra swallowed a sob; that one hit far too close to home.

The voices increased in volume as they threw still worse verbal abuse. Kendra clapped her hands to her hears in vain – how she wished it would all just stop!

Overcome by desperation, Kendra could take it no longer. "Stop!" she yelled.

As one the voices stopped. Kendra was so startled by the abrupt silence that she opened her eyes to look around. For a second she was frustrated with herself for shattering the illusion, but she realized that was not the case. A quick glance around showed that she was several yards away from where Seth lay prone on the ground and just a few feet from the pedestal – so close that she could reach out and touch it, if she dared. The same glance showed that the darkness Seth had pushed away had begun to creep closer, several tendrils branching out from the main mass.

But all of this was a side note. What really held her attention was the soft white glow emanating from her hands.

It wasn't too bright; it wouldn't be noticeable in the sun, but in the current semidarkness, it was a startling contrast to the shadows. Examining the pearly white light, Kendra was reminded of a similar light she had seen from Bracken whenever he created a communication coin.

She had always known she had light within her as a result of becoming the Fairy Queen's handmaiden. Supposedly it was this light that allowed her to see in the dark. She had never seen the light herself, but fairies claimed she shone like a beacon on the magical spectrum. She wondered if she had suddenly become able to see her inner light, but she dismissed that notion. This felt more significant than that – she felt empowered. For the first time since becoming fairykind, she felt like sharing the Fairy Queen's magic actually meant something.

A new idea was beginning to form in her brain. They may not have a unicorn horn, but unicorns weren't the only creatures who could manipulate light.

As if in response to her thoughts, Ronodin's voice once again echoed around the room. "Foolish girl," he hissed. "You have no hope of defeating me. You are no unicorn, you have no horn – you have only the barest hint of fairy magic in your veins. Your pittance of magic will cause no more harm than if you were to hurl the horn to the ground; it cannot be broken by mortal means. You could lie down on the ground and accept your fate and do as much damage."

The realization of her power gave Kendra courage, and she refused to be intimidated by the dark unicorn's (hopefully) empty words. "You seem pretty eager for me to give up and die, but nothing you've thrown at me so far has been able to stop me," she said coolly.

"Nonsense," Ronodin snapped. Maybe Kendra was reading too far into it, but she sounded nervous. "You've seen but a tiny portion of the magical power I have at my disposal."

"Really," Kendra said skeptically, with growing boldness. "Why don't you show me?"

There was a pause, a brief silence, but no response from Ronodin.

Kendra grinned, her confidence growing. "You're probably limited in what you can do in your own illusion," she said. "If you mess around too much, this whole world will explode or something, and you don't want to do that, because then your horn goes up in smoke, too. You know we're strong enough to defeat you, so you're bluffing your way through it desperately to try to get us to stop. Well, it's not working."

There was another pause, and Kendra knew she had gambled correctly. She took a step toward the pedestal, but before she could summon the courage to grab the horn, Ronodin spoke again.

"My horn is the only thing powering this illusion," he said abruptly. "If you destroy it, this world will collapse. You and your brother will be killed."

His words sent a chill down Kendra's spine, but he sounded desperate to her. She refused to let him scare her into refraining from action. Brynn had told her that she and Seth were only here in spirit, and she was more inclined to believe Bracken's sister than the dark unicorn. Besides, they hadn't come all this way to be discouraged by mere words.

She searched her mind, trying to find the trigger that had caused her to snap before. Seizing vague feelings of frustration and power, she attempted to channel the newly discovered light within her. After a few moments of intense concentration, light flared brightly from her hands. She blinked away tears from the sudden illumination. Still not completely able to see, she reached out blindly, fumbled for the pedestal, and grabbed Ronodin's horn tightly in both hands.

Ronodin's voice rose again from the walls, but no words were distinguishable amongst the screams of pain. Kendra's ears ached from the noise, but she would not – could not – use her hands to cover them. Gritting her teeth, she squeezed the horn tighter. It trembled under her hands, a constant vibration that gradually developed into a vigorous shaking. It was like the horn was alive, desperately trying to escape her grasp. It took all of Kendra's nerve to maintain her grip.

She could feel the horn resisting her – though it quivered beneath the intensity of her light, it would not give. Kendra looked inside herself, hoping for some hidden store of fairykind power that would give her an extra boost.

Her heart was hammering, and her palms were slick with sweat. She wasn't using much physical energy in her attack, but the effort drained her nonetheless. She needed to end this soon.

Kendra had reached a point when she thought she had no more to give. The glow from her hands illuminated the entire room, but she could force them to glow no brighter. She had attacked with all she had, and now her arsenal was empty.

Then, impossibly, amidst the constant cacophony of Ronodin's anguished screams, Kendra heard something crack.

Glancing down, she saw that a tiny fracture had appeared in the tip of the horn.

She removed her hands, extinguishing her light as she did so. While she watched, the crack elongated, curling around the natural spiral of the horn until the whole thing was completely covered in tiny fractures.

Then it shattered into a thousand pieces.

Ronodin's screams died out, but even as that noise subsided, it was replaced by a great rumble of thunder. Or at least Kendra thought it was thunder, until she saw the cracks spreading across the ceiling and floor. Off to her left a wall caved in, and a chunk of ceiling plummeted to the ground not six feet from her. The pedestal toppled over, breaking into two pieces. It was just as Ronodin had promised – without the horn to sustain it, the illusory world was collapsing.

Kendra glanced back to where she had left Seth. She screamed as she realized that large sections of the floor were missing, and the holes that were left were filled only with empty blackness. She couldn't see Seth anywhere; he must have fallen into the void below.

_It's not like the real world,_ Kendra thought desperately. _We're not going to die. Brynn said we'd wake up in our own bodies when the illusion is destroyed. We're not going to die._

She didn't have time to think of anything else before the floor dropped out from beneath her and she was falling into the darkness.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Oh my gosh, an actual update! I can't believe it's been over four months since I've posted anything. I'm so, so, so sorry it took me so long to get these chapters up. It was actually one chapter at first, but when I got done typing the whole thing up it was about seven thousand words long. _Seven thousand_. So rather than have one massively long chapter I split it into one slightly shorter chapter and one slightly longer chapter. Plus, this makes me look like I've been more productive in these four months!

So, Ronodin's second horn is destroyed - two down, one to go! These two chapters were frustratingly difficult to write, but hopefully the next one will flow more easily. The one after that I've been planning in the back of my mind for _months_, so that one had better flow like water. And then, of course, there will be more romance, hopefully ;)

As always, I apologize for any grammatical errors you may have encountered while reading this. I typed over half of it in one sitting, and I knew that if I went back for an in-depth proofreading I'd get sick of this and leave it to rot. Hopefully nothing slipped past my quick once-over.

I hope you enjoyed these chapters. Hopefully the next one will be up _much_ sooner than these were!


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